Crimson Desert update has a few surprise improvements, like finally letting you teleport on your horse and a new ability

I'm of two minds about Crimson Desert's patches—on one hand, Pearl Abyss has been shaving off some of the friction that made its bizarre, madcap action game interesting. On the other, there were a lot of really irritating quirks that needed to be sanded down, and it's downright impressive how dedicated the studio's been to patching it.

So dedicated, in fact, that late last week, Pearl Abyss dropped a big ol' preview on what it'd be fixing, and while a lot of those things have made their way into today's update—which you can see on the game's website—there've been some surprise additions, too.

For starters, you can now set your cutscene fast forward speed to 4x. I assume there's no skip for technical reasons, but ramping up the pace at which you can scrub through all the overdramatic peasant arm-waving seems a good compromise for now.

Lock-ons during boss combat should be improved, Abyss Puzzles should be less inscrutable, and there's a whole new ability called Focused Aerial Roll, which lets you turbo-boost while you're flying over Pywel.

By far the quality of life improvement I'm the most excited about is the change to teleportation, though—you can now fast travel while being mounted, while falling, while swimming, and while climbing walls. No more opening the map, trying to travel somewhere, being told I can't, dropping out of the menu, making sure Kliff is stock-still, then doing the whole shebang all over again.

While Pearl Abyss is indeed making Crimson Desert a more approachable game with every update, I can't say that these improvements aren't welcome. At the very least, I didn't feel a sense of texture or richness while futzing around with the teleportation feature, and the Focused Aerial Roll looks sick as hell for when I get the Stamina and Spirit to support it. You can read the full notes for version 1.03.00 below.

Crimson Desert patch notes version 1.03.00

Patch Notes Version 1.03.00

Content

• Improved the usability of the Greymane camp.
• (To avoid spoilers, changes related to this content are listed in the dropdown menu below.)
• 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.)
• 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.
• Improved an issue where follow-up attack combos would continue too slowly if the player’s attack was blocked. (Removed: 2026/04/11)
• 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.
• Fixed an issue where the scythe could not be drawn in safe zones. (Removed: 2026/04/11)
• 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: All, Selected Only, Display Ranged Weapons, Always, Only When Used
• 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.

Crimson Desert characters: Unlock each
Crimson Desert Abyss Artifacts: Level up
Crimson Desert respec: Swap your skills
How to steal in Crimson Desert: Pilfer some loot
How to find keys in Crimson Desert: Open doors
How to fast travel in Crimson Desert: Going places