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Crimson Desert · Charting the Unknown · 4 Nov 2026

Crimson Desert: Charting the Unknown: how to start it, and everything it adds

Most of Charting the Unknown opens once you finish Crimson Desert’s main story, which 11% of PC players have done, and the sea, ships and housing open once you set up camp at Howling Hill. What each part of the expansion needs, and what it costs.

Charting the Unknown came out on 29 October 2026 and costs $24.99. It needs the base game, Crimson Desert Enhanced.12

When each part opens

What it addsWhen you can start it
Three new storylines, one each for Kliff, Oongka and DamianeAfter the main story, from the Journal menu.
An ocean storylineAfter Howling Hill in the main story.
Diving and the underwater world: ruins, chests, creatures and mountsAny time. Staying under uses breath, so a diving suit helps.
Your own ship and the Great OceanAfter a questline that opens once your camp is set up at Howling Hill. Build a ship with a dispatch mission at a port, or buy one at a Fleet Office.
Building your own houseAfter you set up camp at Howling Hill and finish Luke’s Request in the Grounds of the Sunrise faction quest.
Romance and marriageBuild trust with Pywel’s people. Friends visit once your camp reaches a certain level.
Running businesses, such as a restaurant in VelluaAfter liberating the region in its faction quest and setting up your camp.
Three castles to claimAfter the main story and the related quests: liberate each one, then claim it.
Garden of Trials, a boss rushAfter the main questline.
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How many players can play it yet

Where players are in Crimson Desert

Share of PC players

  1. Finished chapter 177%
  2. Set up camp at Howling HillOpens the sea, ships and housing58%
  3. Finished chapter 729%
  4. Finished the main storyOpens most of the expansion11%
The share of everyone who owns the game on PC who has unlocked the matching achievement, read on 6 November 2026. It counts people who have barely played, so the first bar is never 100%. 3

58% of PC players have their camp at Howling Hill, so they can go to sea now. Only 11% have finished the main story that the new storylines need.3

More on Crimson Desert

See the mods players endorse most, what players say about the game and how players weigh it against Elden Ring.

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Sources

  1. 1Pearl Abyss, Charting the Unknown DLC Features Overview, 20 October 2026 (opens in a new tab) Accessed 4 Nov 2026
  2. 2Steam: Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown, store page (opens in a new tab) Accessed 4 Nov 2026
  3. 3Steam Community: Crimson Desert achievements, with the share of players who have each (opens in a new tab) Accessed 4 Nov 2026

More research

Guide · 4 Nov 2026Best Crimson Desert mods: the ones players endorse mostDefinitive Mod Manager is the Crimson Desert mod players endorse most, and Character Creator, Fat Stacks and Inventory Expander lead the mods that change the game. The top mods by endorsements, grouped by what they do, and how to install them.Comparison · Updated dailyCrimson Desert vs Elden RingBoth are open-world action games where much of the best content sits off the main path, and players compare them often. Crimson Desert’s players who bring up Elden Ring mostly say its combat plays differently, closer to an action game built on combos and weapon swaps than to a soulslike.
Comparison · Updated dailyCrimson Desert vs Dragon’s Dogma 2Both are open-world action RPGs where the fights and the roaming carry the game, and players of both find the story the weakest part. Crimson Desert puts one hero in a vast world built on combos and weapon swaps, and Dragon’s Dogma 2 builds its fights around climbing large monsters with a party of pawns.Comparison · Updated dailyPhantom Blade Zero vs Crimson DesertBoth came out in 2026, and both are single-player action games built around melee combat. Phantom Blade Zero runs through linear levels, and Crimson Desert is an open world that players spend a hundred hours or more in.
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