How to Prepare for Crimson Desert’s Charting the Unknown DLC

Crimson Desert’s Charting the Unknown DLC introduces new adventures for Kliff, Oongka, and Damiane, alongside ocean exploration, expanded housing, and more activities across Pywel. Before heading into the expansion, it is worth checking your story progress, preparing your characters, and restocking the supplies you rely on.

Some preparations unlock specific content, while others simply make your return more comfortable. Completing the relevant quests should take priority over collecting furniture or stockpiling materials for recipes that have not been revealed yet.

This guide covers what to finish, upgrade, and gather before starting Charting the Unknown.

Complete the main story to unlock the new Kliff, Oongka, and Damiane storylines, which begin through the Journal menu. The separate ocean storyline only requires the main quest Howling Hill.

If you are returning to an older save, check for unfinished main quests before spending your preparation time on optional activities. It is also worth finishing the epilogue and its conversations with the faction leaders so you have wrapped up the existing story.

For a fresh playthrough, Howling Hill is a useful early target. You can work towards the ocean content first, then continue through the campaign to prepare for the additional character stories.

If you have not played since the Crimson Desert Enhanced update, inspect each character’s skill tree before heading into combat.

That update reset existing skill allocations and refunded the resources spent on them. It also introduced Abyss Link: spending Abyss Artifacts to learn skills on one character grants an equivalent number of Abyss Links to the other playable characters, which they can spend on their own skills.

This makes it much easier to prepare Oongka and Damiane alongside Kliff. Switch between all three characters, check their available resources, and rebuild the skills you intend to use.

Prioritise your core combat abilities, survivability, and useful movement options. Water Stride is also worth considering for the expansion’s coastal exploration, although it is a preparation suggestion rather than an entry requirement.

Once you have reassigned everything, test your abilities in a few fights. Returning with a familiar loadout is much easier than discovering missing skills during a difficult encounter.

If most of your playtime has been spent on Kliff, Oongka and Damiane may need more attention before you start their new adventures.

Give each character a complete, usable setup. Focus on:

• A weapon you enjoy using, upgraded as far as reasonably possible.
• Armour that provides enough protection for demanding fights.
• Useful Abyss Gear fitted into the available equipment sockets.
• Skills that support your chosen weapons and playstyle.

You do not need to perfect every possible build. A well-upgraded weapon and a coherent set of equipment are more useful than spreading resources across several unfinished setups.

Spend some time playing both characters, too. Practise their attacks, defensive options, and movement until you feel comfortable switching away from Kliff.

For Oongka, consider unlocking the Kuku Rocket Pack if you have overlooked it. Preparing useful traversal equipment now gives you more options when exploring unfamiliar areas.

The Greymane Camp is one of the most useful places to focus your preparation.

Establishing camp at Howling Hill unlocks the questline leading to ship access. Ships can then be built through port dispatch missions or purchased from a Fleet Office manager.

Continue the camp’s development quests and follow up on opportunities to reunite with missing Greymanes. A larger roster gives you more comrades to work with and a broader selection of skills for camp activities.

If you already have substantial progress, finishing the remaining camp upgrades is a worthwhile goal. However, fully upgrading the camp and recruiting every Greymane should be treated as thorough preparation, rather than the minimum requirement for setting sail.

Expand Your Camp Shops with Merchant Contracts

While visiting towns to restock, build trust with merchants whose supplies you regularly use.

Some merchants offer contracts at maximum trust. Buy and use these contracts to expand the stock available from the corresponding vendors at your camp. This is particularly useful for supplies you expect to purchase repeatedly.

Combining merchant visits with food shopping makes this preparation more efficient. You can stock up for the expansion while improving your camp’s long-term convenience.

If you have been away for several updates, investigate unfamiliar shop markers as well. You may find useful vendors and contracts you have not collected.

Revisit Kuku crafting and check which recipes, tools, and upgrades you have left unfinished.

A sensible preparation goal is to have your existing equipment in a usable state. If you already have access to the mech, for example, complete upgrades you know you want and become familiar with how it handles.

The transcript highlights upcoming diving equipment and mech changes, but the exact crafting requirements should not be assumed before release. There is no reason to complete every existing Kuku recipe solely because you expect it to unlock something in the DLC.

Focus on practical improvements you can benefit from immediately. Keep some crafting resources available so you can respond to the new recipes once their requirements are known.

A reliable supply of healing food is one of the simplest ways to prepare for unfamiliar bosses and longer exploration trips.

Visit merchants to buy useful cooked meals, then collect ingredients for dishes you regularly use. Buying meat and other ingredients while travelling between towns can save you a separate gathering trip later.

Hunting is another option if you prefer to collect your own supplies. The aim is to build a comfortable reserve, rather than spend all your preparation time farming food.

Make Use of Your Kuku Cooler

The Kuku Cooler and Enhanced Kuku Cooler can store food and ingredients. Stored ingredients remain available for cooking without needing to carry them in your inventory, making these useful for managing a larger reserve.

Keep prepared meals ready for combat and use storage for ingredients you can turn into replacements.

It is also worth crafting a supply of Palmar Pills for reviving during difficult encounters. They provide another recovery option when learning unfamiliar fights.

Avoid entering the expansion with every resource already committed to an unfinished project.

Keep some spending money available, replenish your camp funds, and gather materials used by your current crafting and equipment upgrades. Useful supplies to review include:

• Copper and iron.
• Gold and silver ore.
• Diamonds.
• Bones and hides.
• Wood and stone.

Check what you already own before farming more. Prioritise shortages that are preventing an upgrade you actually want, then keep a modest reserve of common materials.

Camp progression also supports the expansion’s management activities. Business access requires establishing camp and completing the faction quest that liberates the relevant region.

The DLC’s new equipment may require resources found in its new areas. Until those recipes are available, there is no confirmed material quantity to aim for, and existing supplies should not be treated as a guaranteed shortcut through every new upgrade.

For housing, establish the Howling Hill camp and complete Luke’s Request within the Grounds of the Sunrise Greymanes faction quest.

Check your faction quest progress now so this requirement is already handled when you want to explore the expanded building options.

If decorating is a priority, start collecting furniture you know you want to use. Keep some wood and stone available, but leave room in your budget for the expansion’s new options.

You can also revisit furniture vendors and the activities that award decorations or crafting manuals. Existing sources include shops, claw machines, and the Orb Roll Challenge.

Avoid Clearing Every Stronghold Just for a Castle

Claiming the three eligible castles requires story completion, relevant quests, and stronghold liberation.

The preparation information does not identify those castles, so clearing every stronghold solely for this purpose could create unnecessary work.

Finish the campaign and continue any faction quests you already want to complete. Once the expansion is available, you can target the correct locations and their associated missions.

Romance and marriage involve building relationships with eligible NPCs, while close friends can visit a sufficiently developed Greymane Camp.

If these activities interest you, spend some time improving trust with characters you already enjoy interacting with. You can combine this with merchant visits and other preparation around the world.

However, do not assume that every NPC can be romanced or that reaching 100 Trust automatically unlocks marriage. The transcript’s suggestions about exact thresholds, potential partners, and additional benefits go beyond the confirmed requirements.

For now, developing your camp and maintaining existing relationships are reasonable preparations. You can pursue the specific romance and festival conditions once they are available.

The Garden of Trials is a boss gauntlet unlocked after the main questline, with special rewards for clearing it.

Use the time before release to test your equipment against demanding encounters. This is especially useful if you have recently rebuilt your skills or started playing Oongka and Damiane more regularly.

Optional bosses, including the Overwhelming Beings, can give you opportunities to practise defensive timing, manage healing supplies, and identify weaknesses in your setup. Treat these fights as preparation; defeating every optional boss has not been established as an additional entry requirement.

Pay attention to what causes problems. If you struggle to survive, improve your protection or healing supply. If fights drag on, review your weapon upgrades, offensive skills, and equipped Abyss Gear.

If preparation time is limited, prioritise the relevant quests, a dependable character setup, and enough food for several difficult fights. Furniture collecting and extensive material farming can wait until you know which new activities you want to pursue.