Crimson Desert’s 1.01.00 Patch Notes: Quality of Life Galore

Pearl Abyss released Update 1.01.00 for Crimson Desert on March 28th, 2026. As the second post-launch game update, it eases countless frustrations players have been experiencing over the past week.

Highlights

The changes that stood out to us the most include a few new mounts, a ton of QoL improvements, a shift to Crime and Contribution Point loss, and the introduction of Refinement Coins.

New Mounts

There are some new legendary and boss mounts that are now obtainable from relevant sources and townsfolk no longer freak out if they see you riding one.

Honestly, freaking out seems like a pretty normal reaction to seeing a bear walk past you. I think it would be better if they calibrated the freak-out frequency, tied it to Contribution, or just made it an option in the settings to disable this sort of behavior.

PA’s solution is no doubt simpler to implement and probably only involved changing some sort of flag.

Quality of Life Improvements

Quality of Life (QoL) refers to changes that improve the overall experience of playing the game by offering tweaks to game interactions that reduce friction and frustration. These changes are trying to stop the game from getting in its own way, so to speak.

There are far too many to list, but here are a few of our favorites:

• Moved the private storage chest in Howling Hill Camp, previously located behind Karl, to inside Kliff’s tent.
• Added a “Store all selected items” function to move all items from the inventory to your private storage. (X/☐/SHIFT+RMB)
• Improved locked doors so that an interaction button is displayed, allowing players to choose whether to use a key to open the door.
• Improved the usability of Flight by reducing stamina consumption, hitching, and enabling equipment use.
• Improved the interaction range to make interacting with NPCs more convenient.
• Improved the player character’s turning responsiveness during short-distance movements.

There are more that deserve to be shown here, so just go read the full patch notes below. Truly, getting so many QoL improvements for this game so soon feels like I just ate some fae food. Now my gameplay friction intolerance is gonna get even worse!

Crime and Contribution

It used to be that criminal acts would lower Contribution as soon as you committed the crime, regardless of whether anyone saw. Now, contribution is only getting lowered if there are witnesses.

While it was unintuitive, the Contribution cost was a major incentive for Kliff to actually be a good boy instead of being a loot goblin like it is in every other open world game. Contribution added quite a bit of authenticity to being a criminal by incentivizing you to only take the good stuff you can carry.

I think it would cause too much of an uproar to revert this change now that it’s out, but it would have been far better if they just renamed “Contribution” to “Karma” or something.

I haven’t played Black Desert: Online, so I can’t speak to how common this is for PA, but I’m surprised at how willing the devs are to make such rapid high-level changes to game systems.

The other massive change they’ve made to the game including reported pre-release adjustments revolves around inventory management with the introduction of a lot more inventory slots and personal storage.

They were clearly shooting for some sort of limitation as many other open world games have, but their solution thus far has just been to practically eliminate those imitations.

It’s great that they’re listening and are ready to implement changes, but without adjustments to the Silver and Contribution economy, I’m concerned about the downstream effects.

I can’t help but think we’re in for a contentious DLC or some other major update down the road that accounts for these rapid high-level adjustments.

Refinement Coins and Reimbursement

Patch 1.01.00 also comes with a new Refinement Coin item that enables you to upgrade something to Reinforcement Tier 4 without needing to pay the resource costs.

After Tier 4, upgrading items requires an Abyss Artifact, so there’s more commitment to whatever you’re upgrading beyond that point. These Refinement Coins enable more experimentation and come from main and faction quests.

To account for overspending on existing save files, players will receive a calibrated refund upon loading a save after the update.

Sadly, these refunds do not include reimbursement for Contribution level for crimes you got away with unseen.

1.01.00 Full Patch Notes

Below, you’ll find the full patch notes for Version 1.01.00 from pearlabyss.com. They have been reformatted, but no other edits have been made.

Content

• Added chests containing various materials throughout Pywel.
• Added the “Refinement Coin” item. With this item, equipment can be tempered up to Stage 4 without consuming any additional materials. Refinement Coins can be obtained from certain main and faction quests.
• Added a “Make Now” function which allows food and items to be cooked/crafted immediately in the Cooking/Crafting menu once a recipe is selected, without having to separately select ingredients.
• Added a “Store all selected items” function to move all items from the inventory to your private storage. (Keyboard: Shift+RMB/ PS5: ☐ / Xbox: X)
• Moved the private storage chest in Howling Hill Camp, previously located behind Karl, to inside Kliff’s tent.
• Added wholesale grocer shop NPCs to regional farms in Pywel, and accordingly adjusted the quantity of certain Knowledge entries.
• Improved shop item knowledge acquisition so that knowledge for all items sold in shops can now be learned at once, with the learning time set to 3 seconds.
• Improved locked doors so that an interaction button is displayed, allowing players to choose whether to use a key to open the door.
• Improved pets so that they do not stray excessively far away during combat.
• Fixed an issue where pets in certain situations were unable to loot during combat.
• Improved wells so that 5 units of water can be obtained at a time.
• Improved the Mining Knuckledrill so that items obtained from drilling can be collected immediately.
• Improved the Demenissian Chainsaw item so that lumber from felled trees can be collected immediately.
• Changed the crafting materials for the Kuku Watcher Pack.
• Improved Abyss Cells dropped from destroying disappearing rocks so that they can now be placed into the Kuku Pot.
• Improved the Knowledge Helm so that all obtainable knowledge visible on the screen can be acquired at once.
• Slightly increased the treasure detection range of the Pirate King Hat.
• Additional inventory expansion items obtained after reaching the maximum inventory expansion limit (240 slots) will now be granted as boxes containing crafting materials and other items.
• Made the Abyss more convenient to play.
• Reduced the chance of pickpockets running into houses while fleeing.
• Increased the maximum camera distance in Photo Mode, added a field of view adjustment feature, and a camera shutter sound effect.
• As part of ongoing visual improvements, replaced select 2D visual assets to better align with the game’s art direction.
• Fixed an issue where resting or waiting at beds, campfires, and similar objects were unavailable.
• Fixed an issue where Damiane and Oongka would become invisible under certain circumstances.
• Fixed an issue where money deposited in the bank could disappear when interest was refreshed under certain circumstances.
• Changed sealable items so that when they become lost, sealable items will become sealed and items that cannot be sealed are registered as lost items.
• Improved the system so that leaving out a sealable item and then saving and reloading the game triggers either a sealed or lost item notification.
• Changed criminal acts to not decrease Contribution before an NPC witnesses the act.

Controls & Combat

• Improved movement controls for both the player character and horse.
  • Movement speed increases by holding down the running key.
  • Movement speed increases by tapping the running key once.
  • Movement speed for the player character and horse will no longer decrease even if the running key is not held continuously.
  • (Please note that maintaining the full sprint state still requires periodic input of the sprint button.)
• Improved the usability of Flight.
  • Reduced Flight’s stamina consumption.
  • Fixed the issue where the character briefly stops for a moment before moving with Flight.
  • Improved Flight so that equipped equipment can be used while flying.
  • Improved an issue where Flight would not activate in certain situations.
• Changed the mechanics of Aerial Stab. Because there was an unintended issue that allowed the skill to be used repeatedly in midair, Aerial Stab was adjusted so that it can still be used as a fun movement mechanic without disrupting overall game balance.
  • Improved the animation for Aerial Stab.
  • Changed Aerial Stab so that the stamina required for the skill increases with each consecutive use.
  • Fixed an issue where Aerial Stab would not activate when Kliff had a different main weapon other than a one-handed sword equipped.
• The stamina requirements for Aerial Maneuver and Aerial Swing have been reduced.
• Improved the interaction range to make interacting with NPCs more convenient.
• Improved the player character’s turning responsiveness during short-distance movements.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Fixed an issue where the Blinding Flash and Spinning Slash skills would be interrupted when continuously being inputted under certain conditions.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Improved so that items can be sold by double-clicking them in shops.
• Added weak point indicator effects for each element.
• Adjusted certain bosses and enemies so they do not attack immediately after the player character dies and revives.
• Fixed an issue where Meteor Kick could be cast in midair even when there was no reachable ground.
• Added an aim key guide for tool-type items.
• Changed weapons so that they can now be drawn using the unsheathe weapon key, and improved the UI so that this key guide is displayed during combat.
• Fixed an issue where the stun gauge would sometimes reset instantly when a boss using a mount fell off it.
• Changed Small and Medium Stoneback Crabs to fall backwards when hit by the Force Palm ability.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Improved inventory usability as follows:
  • Changed selecting and using items from mouse hover to mouse click.
  • Left-click to select items in the inventory.
  • Right-click or double-click to use items.
• Reduced Stamina consumption while sprinting and using Crow Wings.
• Fixed an issue where the knockback range of Focused Repulsion was abnormally large.
• Made an adjustment so that the wheels of Desert Marauder Rusten can no longer be destroyed from beyond a certain distance.
• Fixed an issue where Roll and Evade could not be performed while using focus skills.
• [Keyboard/Mouse] Added a “Precise Control” feature for Axiom Force. Holding Q or the mouse back button while moving the mouse now allows objects to be moved more precisely.
• Improved objects so that they are easier to interact with.
• Improved the UI to display a guide message when attempting to draw a weapon in locations or states where weapons cannot be drawn.

Quests

• Improved the transition into the liberation sequence so it feels less abrupt while liberating a location.
• Fixed an issue in the Prologue quest “New Journey” where progression could be blocked if the player throws an object at Sebastian to attack him.
• Fixed an issue in the Chapter 2 quest “Missing Companion” where the delivery target sometimes disappeared during the quest.
• Fixed an issue in the Chapter 3 quest “Dance with the Devil” where destroying the totems would occasionally not reduce the totem count.
• Added additional guide prompts where guidance was previously lacking.

UI Fixes & Improvements

• Added a feature that allows the minimap to be fixed with North (N) at the top.
• Added information in the Skills menu showing stat increases for the next skill level.
• Added icons on the minimap to indicate the locations of keys and anvils.
• Improved the Notifications menu to allow checking quest/challenges progress (accepted, completed, updated), reward information, and time details. The maximum number of stored notifications has also been increased to 2,000.
• Added an icon to the Journal menu to indicate new quests.
• Improved the minimap so that faction facilities are displayed when that particular faction’s liberation gauge is shown.
• Improved the overall main screen notifications, including how long they are displayed and when they disappear.
• Improved the Cooking/Crafting menu so that recipes of the same type (Filling, Satisfying, Hearty) are displayed as a single group.
• Improved the Duo game so that a key guide for peeking is displayed during gameplay.
• Removed the whiteout effect during the retry loading sequence after death.
• Improved the Knowledge menu UI so that both main categories and subcategories can be viewed at once.
• Changed the key guide UI image for PlayStation controller’s L3/R3 buttons and Xbox controller’s LS/RS buttons.
• Changed the Inventory UI so that when using Pouch-type items, “Use All” is the option selected by default.
• Improved the text color of UI descriptions to appear brighter.

Graphics & Settings

• Improved rendering stability and visual quality in low-resolution environments or when upscaling is enabled.
• Improved the rendering of translucent materials such as hair, fur, and clothing when FSR-RR / DLSS-RR is enabled.
• [PlayStation 5] Added a “Fixed 4K Output” option to provide a sharper gameplay experience.
  • When this option is enabled, the game will output at 4K resolution regardless of whether the display natively supports 4K, allowing for a sharper image.
  • On the base PlayStation 5 in Performance Mode, enabling this option will allow you to upscale with FSR.
  • This option is enabled by default and can be disabled.
  • When disabled, the game will output according to the maximum resolution supported by the monitor.
• Fixed an issue where screen noise would increase during long gameplay sessions.
• Fixed an issue where displacement mapping was not applied correctly when DLSS-RR was enabled. In addition, the DLSS-RR preset has been changed from D to E, improving overall visual quality and fixing an issue where texture animations, such as waterfalls, could stop playing.

Performance, Stability, Gameplay

• Loading times have been reduced when traveling via Abyss Traces and when respawning after death.
• Fixed several stability, performance optimization, and crash issues across PC, console, and Mac.
• Fixed an issue where frame drops occurred during the battle against Crowcaller.

Localization

• Fixed a UI issue where the current quest objective could incorrectly display certain item descriptions instead.
• Fixed various localization errors and improved localization quality (game advice, etc.) across all languages.

Others

• Added sound effects when certain animals eat meat.

Other Fixes

• Fixed an issue where certain interactions would not function when enhancing some tools.
• Fixed an issue in the Twisted Thicketway Abyss where the Skybridge Gate could be opened without restoring the adjacent Abyss.
• Improved cows not properly following during herding.
• Fixed an issue where greeting others while having a low bounty could trigger a crime.
• Fixed an issue where using Nature’s Snare affected nearby NPCs.
• Fixed an issue where housing mode would close when pressing the drag button outdoors.
• Fixed an issue where falling onto shallow water could occasionally cause the character to dive to an abnormal location.
• Fixed an issue where the effect of the Energy Drain Abyss gear would not activate.
• Fixed an issue where unintended functionality was applied to the Constellation Helm.
• Fixed an issue where movement speed would briefly decrease before initiating gliding.
• Fixed an issue where items would be put away when changing equipment via quick slot while equipment was already drawn.
• Fixed an issue where bow aiming was not possible in certain situations.
• Fixed an issue where using Blinding Flash Finisher at the edge of a cliff would launch the character far away.
• Fixed an issue where some UI elements would overlap when displayed at the same time under certain circumstances.
• Fixed an issue where attacking NPCs with trees was not considered a crime.
• Fixed various other in-game issues.

Known Issues

• The “Use” option for the Talisman of the 5 new mounts is shown as being available for Damiane and Oongka.
• Instead of disappearing, Blackstar remains flying in place after death. Blackstar will disappear normally once the available mount usage time is used up.
• The A.T.A.G. is not destroyed once its Health reaches 0.
• Under specific conditions, the player character’s state changes abnormally.
• Wanted criminals that have been captured cannot be turned in while the player character is also in a wanted state.
• If an NPC’s Trust was increased during the Prologue, that NPC’s Trust value may reset to its Prologue value in certain situations.
• [ROG Xbox Ally X] We have identified an issue where Crimson Desert is not launching properly on ROG Xbox Ally X running on the latest driver version. Microsoft and AMD are currently looking into the issue. Until the issue is resolved, we recommend installing and using the driver version immediately prior to the latest one, available on the ASUS website.
  • Latest Driver Version: V32.0.23027.4002
  • Previous Driver Version (Using this version until issue resolved recommended): V32.0.21025.27003
• An issue has been identified where the cloudcart cannot be summoned.
• An issue has been identified where, in certain situations, some knowledge can only be acquired after performing “Observation” twice.
• (Xbox) An issue has been identified where the fishing reel-in function does not work properly when the “Invert Right Stick Y-Axis” setting is enabled in the device settings. Please note that if you disable this feature, the reel-in function will work normally.
• During the “Deferred Advance” quest, retrying or abandoning the Ultimate Weapon fight when Blackstar’s Health is depleted causes Blackstar’s Health to not fully recover.
• Attempting to steal fruit at the back of a stall results in the character becoming unresponsive to controls.
• When receiving damage while holding a tree, the character can become stuck to the tree.
• During the Gregor, the Halberd of Carnage boss fight, if surrounding objects are destroyed at the same time the character dies, the character cannot revive and progress.
• Under certain conditions, applied settings are not saved after restoring settings.
• While progressing through some quests, the next objective is not automatically tracked.
• When using FSR4 upscaling, an issue occurs in rainy environments where rain disappears, or the screen becomes blurry or distorted. 

Solved

• We are currently investigating an issue where Steam pre-order purchasers are unable to claim their pre-order bonus and deluxe pack items.
• (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Pro) An issue where using the Map menu sometimes results in crashes.
• [PS5 Pro, PS5] An issue has been identified where, when switching from another character to Kliff, certain actions and interactions do not function properly.
  – If you save the game at the moment the issue occurs and then load that save file, or restart the game, gameplay should return to normal.
• An issue has been identified where the game cannot be launched properly on Xbox ROG Ally and Xbox PC.
• In certain situations, the Abyss can be seen from the world below, resulting in slight drops in frame rate.
• We are currently investigating an issue where Collector’s Edition Steam edition pre-order purchasers are unable to claim their ultimate pack items.
• An issue has been identified where, if your investment returns are negative while you have no gold bars deposited in the bank, your total balance becomes 0.
  • Until this issue is fixed, we recommend not using the bank’s investment feature if your deposited amount is less than 500 silver (1 gold bar). We apologize for the inconvenience caused.
• There is an issue where, after using the “Wait” feature twice, it is no longer possible to rest or wait using beds or campfires.
• An issue has been identified where Damiane/Oongka becomes invisible under certain conditions.
  • If this issue occurs, you can resolve it by switching back to Kliff via ring menu, or by saving and reloading.