Crimson Desert diving is available in Charting the Unknown without any special quest unlock. Enter the water to use the new breath gauge, refine a diving suit to increase maximum breath capacity, and carry suitable food to restore breath during longer underwater trips. The expansion also adds underwater mounts, ruins and treasure maps across Pywel.
The new breath gauge is what limits a dive, so a better suit and breath-restoring food are your main preparations. Once you’re comfortable underwater, head towards the sunken ruins or use a ship to reach the new offshore locations.
How to unlock Crimson Desert diving
There is no special quest requirement for Crimson Desert diving. Once the DLC and Update 2.04.00 are installed, enter suitable water and submerge using your platform’s swimming controls. A breath gauge appears and limits how long you can stay below the surface.
Pearl Abyss separates diving from the A Wider World ocean quest. That quest requires Howling Hill and Greymane Camp progress, while the ability to dive itself is available without special conditions. You can practise in shallower water before making a trip to the offshore islands.
How to increase breath capacity
For longer Crimson Desert diving trips, refine your diving suit. Refinement increases the maximum breath available, helping you stay submerged longer between opportunities to recover. Check the suit’s refinement options as you prepare your gear rather than expecting a normal weapon or armour upgrade to change your breath.
Diving suit refinement raises your maximum breath, while specific food items restore some of the breath you’ve used. Work on both before a long underwater trip: the suit lets you stay down longer, and the food gives you extra time before you return to the surface.
Do you need the Charter’s Diving Set?
No. The pre-order Charter’s Diving Set for Kliff and Oongka, plus Damiane’s Light Diving Set, can help you prepare, but it is not required to use Crimson Desert diving. The developer expressly states that diving has no special unlock. A diving suit and related items are useful because they extend the time you can spend underwater.
If you claimed the preorder equipment, equip it before exploring. Otherwise, concentrate on obtaining and refining suitable diving gear. The new breath system applies regardless of how you acquired your equipment.
How underwater mounts and Trust work
The Crimson Desert diving expansion introduces creatures that can become underwater mounts. Depending on the creature, you may need to subdue it or feed it. Both approaches increase Trust, and you can register the animal as a mount once its Trust is high enough.
Different sea creatures use different taming interactions. Subdue or feed them as appropriate, build their Trust and register them once it is high enough. This is a mount-taming system, separate from the DLC’s romance and marriage interactions.
Where to find underwater ruins and treasure
With Crimson Desert diving, the Great Ocean contains sunken ruins, hidden rewards and new treasure maps. You can search near the coast, then use ships to reach more distant islands and explore their waters. Treasure maps give clues to hidden locations throughout the expanded world.
The Relic Collector exchanges relics found while exploring for items. You can reach farther offshore with a ship, obtained through a port dispatch or a fleetmaster. Our shipbuilding guide covers both routes, and A Wider World explains the ocean storyline.
Why you’re running out of breath underwater
For longer Crimson Desert diving trips, refine the suit before returning to a deep site and carry food that restores breath. Use the gauge to plan when to surface. These are the two ways the update provides for extending underwater exploration.
There is also new equipment that allows the A.T.A.G to work underwater when equipped. Without the appropriate gear, don’t assume the tool will function as it does on land. Review your equipped items before entering deep water.
Preparing for longer ocean exploration
For a better Crimson Desert diving trip, refine your suit, equip underwater-compatible tools, carry food that restores breath and explore the shallows before committing to a distant ruin. Once ships are available, use them for travel between islands and save your underwater time for the sites you want to investigate.
The Charting the Unknown overview covers the rest of Update 2.04.00, including its new quests, properties, romance and Garden of Trials.
Related Guides
Official source: Pearl Abyss Update 2.04.00 patch notes.
