Master Crimson Desert's side content! Discover the best quest chains for powerful rewards, companion unlocks, and essential gear. Includes faction questlines and inventory expansion.
Crimson Desert's side content is vast, featuring over 80 side quests, multiple faction quest lines, a companion dispatch system, and a web of interconnected questlines that can dramatically affect your main story experience. While the main story provides a satisfying journey on its own, the side quests contain some of the game's best writing, most valuable rewards, and essential requirements for achieving the true ending. This guide covers the most rewarding quest chains, explains every faction line, details the companion dispatch system, and identifies the specific side content required for completionists and true ending seekers.
Side quests in Crimson Desert are not simple fetch quests. Most involve multi-step chains with their own narrative arcs, investigation sequences, and boss encounters. Rewards scale with quest complexity, and the most involved chains grant unique abilities, crafting schematics, and companion upgrades that are unobtainable through any other method. Prioritizing the right side content can make the difference between struggling through the endgame and breezing through it with powerful tools at your disposal.
Best Side Quests for Rewards
The single most rewarding side quest chain in the game is the Witch of Wisdom questline, which spans the entire game and requires visiting five hidden locations across all regions. The chain begins by finding the Witch's first marker stone in the Drieghan forest (east of the Grey Wolf camp near an ancient oak) and culminates in a Level 45 boss fight against a magical construct. Completing this chain rewards the Wisdom's Edge ability tome, which teaches the Parry Window Extension passive (extending all parry windows by 30 percent), the Arcane Sight active ability (reveals hidden items and paths for 60 seconds), and counts as one of the true ending requirements. This questline should be started as early as possible since marker stones in later regions cannot be activated until the first one is found.
The Forgemaster's Legacy chain in Demeniss (detailed in our Demeniss Region Guide) is the second most valuable, unlocking Imperial-tier weapon crafting. Close behind is the 'Heirloom of the Mountain King' quest in the Highlands, a four-part chain involving dungeon exploration, a riddle sequence, and a hidden boss. Completing it rewards the Mountain King's Signet, an accessory that provides 15 percent damage reduction and immunity to knockback effects, making it one of the best defensive items in the game. The riddle answers, in order, are: 'The river that never rests,' 'A crown of stone needs no gold,' 'The mountain remembers what the wind forgets,' and 'The king who serves.' Getting any riddle wrong does not fail the quest but spawns an additional enemy wave before the boss.
Other high-value side quests include: 'The Shipwright's Last Voyage' in Serendia, which rewards a permanent swim speed increase and the ability to dive deeper (essential for several Sealed Abyss Artifacts). 'Ghosts of the Old Road' in the Thornwood, a horror-themed quest chain that rewards the Shadow Step ability, the best dodge-enhancing move in the game. 'The Astronomer's Request' in Veldran, which requires observing five constellations from specific hilltops and rewards a fast-travel upgrade that eliminates loading screens between discovered waypoints.
Faction Quest Lines
There are four major factions in Crimson Desert, each with a dedicated quest line of 5-8 quests. The Serendia Militia is the first faction you encounter, and their quests focus on defending settlements from bandits and monsters. Completing all 6 Militia quests grants the Militia Captain title, a set of Militia armor (excellent mid-game defensive gear), and a permanent 10 percent discount at all Serendia merchants. The Militia questline is straightforward combat-focused content and serves as a good introduction to faction mechanics.
The Merchant Consortium in Veldran offers 5 quests centered around trade negotiations, caravan protection, and market manipulation. These quests are more dialogue and investigation heavy, with fewer combat encounters. The key reward for completing the Consortium line is access to the Black Market vendor, who sells unique crafting materials, rare consumables, and the Trader's Ledger accessory that increases all gold drops by 25 percent. The Consortium is also the only faction that sells the Artisan's Toolkit, a required item for crafting the highest-tier accessories.
The Imperial Resistance in Demeniss has 6 quests available after Chapter 8, focused on sabotage and espionage within the Imperial capital. These are among the game's most challenging quests, combining stealth, combat, and timed objectives. The full line rewards the Resistance Commander title and the Shadowcloak, which reduces detection range from all enemies by 30 percent. The Drieghan Rangers are a hidden faction discovered through a side quest in the Drieghan highlands, offering 8 quests centered on hunting increasingly dangerous monsters. Their rewards include the Ranger's Bow (the best ranged weapon in the game) and the Beast Tongue ability that allows you to calm and temporarily ally with wildlife, including some that can be used as combat companions.
Inventory Expansion Through Hernand Commissions
Hernand is a travelling merchant who appears at various locations throughout the game and offers Commission quests that reward inventory expansion. Your starting inventory is quite limited (20 item slots, 5 equipment slots), and Hernand's Commissions are the only way to expand it. There are 8 Commission quests in total, each adding 5 inventory slots and 1 equipment slot, for a maximum expanded inventory of 60 item slots and 13 equipment slots. Hernand's locations cycle between five settlements on a 3-day in-game rotation, so if you cannot find him, rest at a campfire an
100% Human-Written. AI Fact-Checked. Community Verified. Learn how AntMag verifies content