Enough has changed for Crimson Desert over the course of this year to make it feel like it’s an entirely new game. That’s courtesy of all those rapid updates and extensive creative flourishes that took several of its mechanics forward in ways that made Pywel become a very addictive world to be in.
Well, some of us are always left wanting more, and if you’re among them, you’re probably looking for ways to make things even more interesting. Fortunately, a very helpful modding community is at your disposal if you’re on PC, so let’s get right into some of our personal picks from a very wide, and potentially overwhelming, pool.
1. World Builder
Looking for a quick and easy way to add objects to the game’s world as a sort of extension of the Greymane legacy? Or perhaps you’re trying to place an object that you can then use to access one of the many secrets that Pywel conceals across that vast landscape?
This one is a great choice, letting you select from a number of in-game objects that range from simple torches to entire walls, complete with a placement mode for you to bend Pywel’s very fabric to your will. We kind of look at it as an Abyss-powered 3D printer worked into Kliff’s gauntlet, for the most part.
2. Boss Reinforcements
If you’ve been with Kliff from the very start of his journey earlier this year, the chances are the combat is now a matter of muscle memory and quick reflexes for you, which is certainly fun, but can do with a bit of spicing up.
This mod lets grunt enemies call in a number of bosses as reinforcements, with the maximum number set by you, and with settings to control the appearances of story bosses and elites to let you decide just how much of a challenge you want. The pool from which they’re drawn is based on your existing bestiary, so there’s no fear of potential spoilers in case you’re playing through the story for the first time.
3. Stormsteel – An Elemental Enemy Weapon Overhaul
If you’re looking to add a bit of bite to the game’s loot system and make enemy drops more interesting in the process, this one’s going to make you very happy. It’s got a ton of options for you to tweak and is a nice way of adding variety to your existing builds and perhaps exploit the power of two elementals without needing to switch them out.
We’re quite fond of this one because it changes something that’s so crucial to the game, yet is somehow often overlooked in favor of the many chests and boss drops you can find. That you can upgrade the stuff you get is just icing on the cake, and it brings the potential for a more robust build-crafting experience to an already solid game.
4. Flight Freedom
For those of you who like to break every ceiling they can find, Pywel’s the perfect place to try it out. This mod lets you take your Wyvern and Blackstar as far, wide, and high as you want by removing no-fly zones and artificial barriers.
Heck, you can even summon your mount to the Abyss and attempt to chart a fast and exhilaratingly entertaining course to the land below from there. Our personal highlight is the fact that it lets you summon your mount right from an Abyss Nexus, a simple fix that works wonders for your mobility in Pywel.
5. Super Glide – Free Flight Done Right
If you prefer to let Kliff and his companions get by with a mix of their horses and taking to the air when necessary, this one is going to make that feel so different and refreshing in comparison to the base game’s mechanics.
You get that Arkham-esque ability to nose dive to pick up momentum before you soar into the sky, using the wind to buffet you higher while you hover over the land and set a speeding course to your destination. It’s great stuff, and it really puts those crow’s wings to better use than what’s currently on offer in the game.
6. RenoDX – Graphics Overhaul
If you want Pywel looking like the best it can be on your machine, this one’s going to be helpful in making DLSS and Ray Reconstruction work toward that goal with some changes to the game’s rendering.
It’s a long list that includes updated screen-space shadows, better material shaders, auto exposure and bloom, and so many other improvements that make a significant difference. It’s a great tool if you’re looking for some captures that truly show off what your PC can do.
7. Crimson Weather
Gaining control over the weather in a game that has the word desert in its name is going to sound odd, but that’s just what this mod lets you do. You get full control over the clouds, time of day, and other factors. There are even community presets to choose from if you find there are too many options for you to make sense of.
This is great for bringing variety to your travels, as it gives you control over the conditions in places you’re revisiting, letting you see how different things are under various conditions. It’s also a great way of letting Kliff stay dry and safe from lightning during thunderstorms. It isn’t far-fetched to imagine the Abyss didn’t give him an off-switch for such hindrances.
8. DesertLink Difficulty Overhaul
If you’re looking to bring some serious challenges to your travels, this mod’s got a variety of options for you to tune things to your liking, allowing you to buff enemy health and damage while making them move faster and resist being knocked to the ground as often as they can in the base game.
As you can imagine, this is best enjoyed with a fortress raid or two thrown in, and we can tell you that it can keep you on your toes against enemies who now feel like they’ve made a few trips to the Abyss of their own. If you’re the kind of Greymane who earns their keep on the battlefield, look no further than this one.
9. Super Axiom Force
Scaling tall places that would otherwise remain inaccessible to mere mortals has always been a part of Pywel’s appeal, but things can get messy from time to time. Not anymore.
This makes the Axiom Pull behave with precision and speed, making it far easier to chain multiple ones together and end up exactly where you aimed to be to catch your breath before leaping off into a dive or perhaps repeating the process to gain more height. It’s a game changer on the traversal front, and works very well with the verticality that’s baked into Pywel’s design.
10. Mod Menu
If you’re in the mood to cut loose and just go on a rampage across the lands in search for enemies to wreck, this mod is going to give you everything you need to feel like the Greymane’s most formidable threat, and a warrior who will be remembered as nigh unkillable for years to come.
It does that by giving you auto parries or dodges, and more, while removing the bounty system altogether alongside a very long list of tweaks. Oh, and you get to pick and choose between them all. We recommend pairing it with the DesertLink Difficulty Overhaul and an occupied fortress for some truly entertaining battles.
11. Crimson Atlas Beta
If you’re looking for an interactive map that tracks your position in Pywel in real time without needing you to dive into the map menu when you’re on the go, this mod’s an excellent choice. The live tracking’s one thing, but it also comes with support for your own markers, a bevy of searchable points of interest, and so many more options that make it a great companion app to have.
If you’ve got a second monitor in play, this one is going to let you save a lot of time finding your way as you explore Hernand for hours on end.
12. Crimson Route
Speaking of reducing friction as you navigate the world, there’s a solution for those carriage rides that can have you facing a lot of frustration turning the darn things around when you miss an important turn in the road.
Well, there’s a solution to that, and that’s the road-based navigation that this mod adds to the main map and your minimap, with extensive functionality aimed at letting you chart a course to wherever you want to go next, and letting your map guide you along your way while you take in the sights and sounds of a very compelling fantasy world.
13. Master Looter
If you get tired of constantly clicking an input to loot all the corpses you leave in your wake when anyone in Pywel is dumb enough to challenge you, and if you firmly believe your pets deserve their rest and relaxation back at camp, look no further than this elegant solution.
It lets you set auto-loot conditions that can have you accruing everything you need without all the annoying animations and stops that can come with it. You’re never going to find yourself short of the stuff you need with this one on, and you might even find yourself selling or storing stuff more often than you’re used to.
14. Improved Axiom – Aerial Maneuver
This one’s been specifically designed to work with Super Axiom Force, per its author, and makes Axiom Pulls take you directly to a grapple point of your choosing without the ground or any obstacles getting in your way.
It might sound like a very simple change, but it’s a surprisingly potent one that can have you speeding across Pywel with speed and precise movements, with the ground simply being a launching pad to get you back into the air again once you learn how to use the momentum that these mods give you when they’re working in tandem.
15. CDCamera – Camera Overhaul
If you want a bit of cinematic flair to your adventures, adjusting the camera’s perspective is one way to get it. This is a mod for those of you who think Pywel is pure cinema and deserves to be treated as such.
You’ve got options to set different perspectives, adjustments to the camera’s distance and height, framing and zoom options, and so much more that can make exploring Pywel and engaging in those large-scale battles feel all the more immersive.
