Crimson Desert Gets Yet Another Major Patch, Adds Blinding Flash Finisher for Unarmed Combat So You Can Live Out Your Batman Fantasies

Pearl Abyss has released a new major patch for Crimson Desert — the second this week alone — that makes yet more significant changes to the game.

There’s a lot to dig into with update 1.07.00, which adds more bosses for rematches and makes various bug fixes (patch notes, courtesy of the Crimson Desert website, are below). But perhaps the highlight here is the addition of Blinding Flash Finisher for unarmed combat with Kliff.

For the uninitiated, Blinding Flash Finisher is an essential combat skill that lets you do big damage to stunned enemies while time is slowed down. But, even better, if you hold the button down until Kliff finishes the slow-mo combo, he ends it with a hit that sends a shockwave out in all directions. This is great for clearing groups of weaker enemies, as well as dealing serious damage against foes with more health. Adding it to unarmed combat means those who favor fisticuffs now have access to one of the most powerful combat abilities in the game. So, if you’re playing Kliff like some fantasy version of Batman, your moveset is pretty much complete.

Also of note, this patch fixes an issue where Damiane’s Elegant Carmine Leather Armor appeared abnormally. Earlier this week, social media posts of before and after images of Damiane, the female playable character in Crimson Desert, went viral for showing clothing seemingly changed to cover up previously bare skin. This led to complaints within the community — and even mild Steam review-bombing — with some accusing Pearl Abyss of censorship.

However, Pearl Abyss insisted Damiane’s Elegant Carmine Leather Armor was “unintentionally altered” while it was fixing an issue that would cause the item of clothing to clip. Now, the bug is resolved.

Elsewhere, the patch adds additional wolf and bear types that can be registered as mounts, and both Damiane and Oongka (the third playable character) now have access to the Aerial Stab, as Pearl Abyss continues to make non-Kliff characters more viable.

Fans weren’t expecting another major Crimson Desert patch so soon after the last one, but as the developer has explained, it’s working to a more MMO-like update schedule — informed by its actual MMO, Black Desert — and it maintains momentum in this single-player open world action adventure. Certainly players are enjoying the speed with which Pearl Abyss is improving the game.

This week, Pearl Abyss revealed just how successful Crimson Desert has been, while also confirming plans to explore DLC. It’s sold 5 million copies since going on sale on March 19, and just in March alone it generated KRW 266.5 billion (approx. $178.8 million) in revenue. Pearl Abyss expects it to make over half a billion dollars by the end of 2026.

What could the DLC involve? Players have gone out of bounds and found various interesting parts of the map with unused content. There’s also a named area to the east, called Sunbaked Peaks, that players are currently unable to reach. Perhaps a story expansion could open that up.

Crimson Desert update 1.07.00 patch notes:

New Additions

Added more bosses that can be challenged again in rematches.

• The rematch locations for each boss are listed below and can also be found in Journal > Knowledge > Memory Fragments > Bosses. Additionally, rematch locations for bosses originally found in the Abyss have been adjusted to take place on land.
  • Muskan: Bonepit
  • Corrupted Caliburn: Fort Musket
  • Goyen: Spire of the Sun
  • Draven, the Crowcaller: Church of West Demeniss
  • Clockwork White Horn: Gate to Advancement
• [Damiane] Added unarmed combat skills.
  • You can find the new skills by selecting “Fists” in the skill menu.
• [Damiane/Oongka] Added “Aerial Stab” for Damiane and Oongka.
• [Kliff] Added “Blinding Flash Finisher” for unarmed combat.
• Added additional wolf and bear types that can be registered as mounts.
• Added reins for certain mounts.

Main Improvements Content

• [Damiane] Fixed an issue where the “Elegant Carmine Leather Armor” appeared abnormally.
• Fixed an issue where the “Faces on the Bounty Notice” could not be progressed if the player obtained Ulzok’s bounty notice before speaking with Yann.
• Improved visual effects of “Champion’s Plate Gloves.”
• Fixed an issue where the “Eastern Witch’s Fan” would disappear when extracted.
• Fixed an issue where the Kuku Bird Egg would occasionally disappear from the nest.
• Fixed an issue where some NPCs would appear abnormally at the Saltroad Trading Post.
• Fixed an issue where the “Check the honey quality at the Pollengarth Apiary” could not be completed for “Ugmon’s Request.”
• Fixed an issue while carrying out the “Protectors of the Abyss” quest, where tokens inserted into the door would disappear if only some of them had been inserted and the player moved too far away.
• Fixed an issue where the “Plentiful Greeting” quest could not be progressed even when the relevant requirements were met.
• Fixed an issue where floppy-eared bulldogs could not equip the “Sigil of Valor”.
• Fixed an issue where Ibexes could not be sold to a fence.
• Fixed an issue where missions could not be progressed if comrades were disbanded after moving to the mission location while assembled.
• Fixed an issue where legendary mounts could not be summoned when switching to Kliff in certain situations.
• Fixed an issue where the A.T.A.G. could not be summoned in certain situations.
• Fixed an issue where the A.T.A.G. would occasionally not appear in the hangar.
• Increased the number of animals in the world that can be used as mounts.

Controls

• Fixed an issue where the eating animation would not be canceled by other actions while unarmed on Easy or Normal difficulty.
• Fixed an issue where the handwheel on the coil pillar could only be interacted with from certain angles.

Combat / Action

• [Oongka] Added a charge phase to Explosive Strike.
• [Oongka] Improved chaining into “Stab” when dual-wielding.
• [Damiane] Improved general movement animation while unarmed.
• Improved most unarmed attacks and skills so that they can now successfully hit enemies lying on the ground.

UI

• Fixed an issue where the icon for the “Sword of Starlight” differed from its actual appearance.
• Fixed an issue where, when playing with a controller, certain key guides shown in the bottom-right area of the screen would display keyboard and mouse inputs.

Graphics & Settings

• Fixed a GPU crash issue that occurred with AMD driver version 26.5.1.

Localization

• Fixed various localization errors and improved localization quality across all languages.

Others

• Fixed an issue where, when the “Display Melee Weapons” option was set to “Selected Only”, the sheath for a two-handed sword would be displayed while a one-handed sword and shield were equipped.
• Fixed an issue where equipment equipped on horses would disappear in certain situations.
• Fixed an issue where lions, tigers, and large wolves would fall over every time they were hit.
• Fixed an issue where other actions could be performed while attacking on horseback.
• Fixed an issue where two-handed cannons would flicker while sliding.
• Fixed an issue where the player would glide an excessive distance during a jump attack while equipped with a sword and shield in certain situations.

Applied bug fixes and improvements regarding specific bosses. (To prevent spoilers, details are listed in the dropdown menu below.)

• Fixed an issue where certain attack patterns of Awakened Ludvig involved excessive gliding.
• Fixed an issue where Blackstar’s health would not recover after retrying or giving up while fighting with the ultimate weapon during “Deferred Advance.”

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.