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Dragon Mount
March 21, 2026 at 11:50 PM
Expanded with detailed Chapter 9 taming sequence, PC controls, combat details, and strategic usage tips
Blackstar is the dragon mount in Crimson Desert, a rideable flying wyvern (two legs and two wings) that becomes available as players progress through the main story. Blackstar sits at the top of the mount progression alongside the ATAG (All-Terrain Armored Gear), granting genuine aerial flight across the open world of Pywel, fire-breathing attacks against ground targets, and acrobatic aerial maneuvers.
Like the ATAG, Blackstar is available for a limited duration rather than being a permanent mount like the horse. Once summoned, Blackstar remains active for approximately 15 real-world minutes, after which it departs and enters a 50-minute real-time cooldown. This strict limitation is intentional. Pearl Abyss Director of Marketing and PR Will Powers has noted that flying mounts are limited because the world contains "tons of hidden corners" that would not be visible from the air, encouraging players to explore on foot or by ground mount.
Blackstar is obtained exclusively through the main story and cannot be missed. The unlock happens across two chapters, with the first encounter occurring in Chapter 9 and permanent access granted in Chapter 11. Reaching Chapter 11 typically requires approximately 50 or more hours of gameplay for players who focus primarily on the main story.
Players first encounter Blackstar during Chapter 9: The Sage of the Desert (the Shattered Stars quest chain). Kliff travels to the palace of Urdavah, where he finds the wounded dragon with a spear lodged in its body. In a cutscene, Kliff pulls the spear out, but Blackstar does not become rideable at this point.
Shortly after, players must return to Urdavah and ride Blackstar for the first time. This is a scripted taming sequence with specific requirements and mechanics.
Before attempting to board Blackstar, players need their Stamina attribute at Level 5 or higher. The boarding sequence requires 200 Stamina points for an Aerial Maneuver, so having insufficient Stamina makes it impossible to complete the objective. If Stamina is too low, players should level it up by resting at camp or using attribute points before returning to Urdavah.
The taming sequence plays out as follows:
Position yourself on the battlements. At Urdavah, use the "Wait" option when prompted. This spawns Kliff on the battlements with Blackstar flying nearby.
Jump and glide toward Blackstar. When the dragon passes close enough below, jump off the battlement and glide toward it.
Grapple onto its back. Activate the Axiom Force (grapple) to target Blackstar's back. Immediately press the jump button to perform an Aerial Maneuver, which costs 200 Stamina.
Resist while mounted. Once on Blackstar's back, press and hold the "Resist" button prompt to tighten Kliff's grip whenever the dragon dives and rolls.
Use Focused Force Palm. When prompted, activate Focus and press and hold the Force Palm button until it charges. When a bright glow appears on Blackstar's back, target it and release the button. This purifies the corruption affecting Blackstar.
After the purification, Blackstar is calmed, but it does not become a permanent mount yet. Players must wait until Chapter 11 for full access.
Blackstar becomes a permanent mount during Chapter 11: Truth and Reality (the Foreboding Shadow quest chain, specifically the quest Whispers in the Wind). This chapter takes players to Delesyia, where they face the Golden Star boss, a colossal mechanical dragon.
Once Golden Star's health is depleted, Blackstar swoops in to aid Kliff during the final aerial sequence. After the battle, when players return to the Nest of Valor (a location first visited during Chapter 9), Blackstar becomes permanently available as a mount. The acquisition is automatic and tied to an unmissable cutscene. There is no way to accidentally skip obtaining Blackstar.
Blackstar is summoned from the mount selection wheel:
Controller: Hold D-pad Down to open the mount selection wheel, then select the dragon with the Right Stick.
PC (Keyboard): Hold the H key to open the mount selection wheel and select the dragon.
Blackstar can be summoned anywhere in the open world of Pywel where there is sufficient space. However, the dragon cannot be summoned inside the Abyss realm.
Once summoned, Blackstar is active for approximately 15 real-world minutes. After the active period ends, Blackstar departs and enters a 50-minute real-time cooldown before it can be summoned again. Both the active duration and the cooldown are measured in real-world minutes, not in-game time. There does not appear to be any in-game method to reduce the cooldown timer.
Blackstar is not simply a transport; it functions as a fully combat-capable mount with its own attack suite. While mounted, players have access to devastating aerial attacks that can clear entire enemy encampments from the air.
Input (Controller) | Input (PC) | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
R1 / RB | Left Click | Fireball | Launches individual fireballs at targets below. Can be fired in rapid succession. Features a lock-on function for targeting multiple enemies. |
R2 / RT | Right Click | Fire Breath | Continuous stream of fire that sweeps across the ground. Devastates groups of enemies and spreads the Burn status effect. |
Left Stick | WASD | Flight Direction | Controls the direction of flight. Smooth aerial movement across the entire open world. |
Circle / B (x2) | Dodge Key (x2) | Barrel Roll / Flip | Evasive aerial maneuver to dodge incoming projectiles and magical missiles. Press the dodge input twice for a quick mid-air roll. |
Both Fireballs and Fire Breath consume stamina, but stamina regenerates even while airborne. This means players can sustain aerial combat for extended periods as long as they pace their attacks and allow stamina to recover between bursts. The barrel roll evasion also costs stamina, so players should avoid spamming dodges if they want to keep attacking.
Attack | Description |
|---|---|
Fire Breath (Area) | Blackstar swoops down to smother the land in fire, dealing area damage to ground targets. Effective for clearing groups of enemies and outlaw camps. |
Fireballs (Precision) | Blackstar spits individual fireballs for more precise, targeted attacks. The lock-on function allows targeting multiple enemies in sequence before releasing a volley. |
Swooping Dive | Blackstar dives toward ground targets, spewing flames before pulling up for a quick exit. Useful for hit-and-run tactics against fortified positions. |
Outlaw camps and slaver strongholds that previously required careful ground-level infiltration can be devastated from the air. Preview coverage described how players became "a dragon-riding bounty hunter," swooping into camps and raining fire before escaping skyward.
Because of the 50-minute cooldown, Blackstar should be reserved for moments where aerial power makes the biggest difference. Many players consider the dragon the "ultimate nuclear option" for clearing difficult encounters. Some recommended uses:
Fortress assaults: Rain fire on enemy fortifications from above before landing to mop up survivors. Positions that would take extended ground combat to breach can be softened in seconds.
World bosses: Use Fireballs to deal sustained damage from a safe position above ground-based attacks. This is especially useful against bosses with dangerous melee ranges.
Outlaw camps and strongholds: Camps that previously required stealth or prolonged combat can be devastated from the air. Fly in, unleash Fire Breath, and pull away before enemies can respond.
Rapid traversal: Cover vast distances quickly during the 15-minute active window. Blackstar is significantly faster than any ground mount, making it ideal for reaching distant objectives.
Story set pieces: Certain late-game sequences involve aerial combat against other flying threats, making the dragon essential for those encounters.
The most prominent aerial encounter involving Blackstar is the Golden Star boss fight. Golden Star is a colossal mechanical dragon (an artificial construct, not a biological creature) located at Marni's Masterium in the Delesyian Territory.
Golden Star is encountered during the "Master of the Forgotten Lands" quest. Marni, a scientific genius, cloned his own consciousness to create an AI entity called H.A.L.L. The experiment went wrong and H.A.L.L. took command of a flying fortress threatening Pywel. To stop H.A.L.L., Kliff must retrieve a power core hidden inside Golden Star.
Phase 1 (Ground Combat): Golden Star circles above the arena, using fire breath that activates pylons. These pylons dispense EMP bombs that the player fires from an arm-mounted cannon to bring Golden Star crashing down. While grounded, players attack with melee combos until it reboots and takes flight again. Fire tornadoes and missile barrages threaten the player throughout.
Phase 2 (Aerial Chase): After taking sufficient damage, Golden Star retreats and flees. Kliff clings to it, triggering a mid-air chase sequence. Blackstar joins the pursuit, attacking Golden Star from afar while the player continues to deal damage. This three-way aerial sequence is described as "more of a set piece than other boss fights" and represents one of the game's most cinematic encounters.
Attack | Effect |
|---|---|
Fire Breath | Aimed at the player's position. Causes knockdown on hit. |
Explosive Fire Rain | Rains fire across the ground, creating multiple explosion zones. |
Fire Tornadoes | Summons fiery tornadoes that lift and damage players caught in them. |
Missile Barrage | Launches missiles across the arena. |
Screaming Attack | Deafens and disables player movement temporarily. |
Golden Star is vulnerable to electrical damage due to its mechanical composition. Players can exploit this weakness with lightning-wreathed arrows or electrical abilities.
Blackstar is a large, grey-colored winged beast with a traditional fantasy dragon silhouette. Anatomically, it is a wyvern: it has two hind legs and wings but no front legs, following the classic fantasy distinction. It is a living, organic creature, visually distinct from the mechanical Golden Star boss (a colossal clockwork dragon built by dwarven engineers). In one trailer scene, Kliff's organic dragon is shown chasing the mechanical Golden Star alongside the ATAG mech, creating a dramatic contrast between natural and engineered creatures.
Crimson Desert distinguishes between wyverns and dragons as separate creatures. Wyverns have two hind legs and wings but lack front legs, following the classic fantasy distinction. Dragons in the game world are four-limbed creatures with a more traditional anatomy. Blackstar, the rideable flying mount that Kliff uses, is technically a wyvern. Some preview outlets use the terms interchangeably, but Sportskeeda's mount guide explicitly noted the anatomical distinction: the creature Kliff rides has "no front legs," identifying it as a wyvern. Whether players can also ride proper dragons has not been confirmed.
Blackstar sits within a broader mount progression system that unlocks different creature types as the player advances through the story.
Mount Type | Category | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|
Ground | Starting mount; charging and drifting mechanics | |
Ground | Speed-based traversal | |
Ground | Combat-ready mount with claw maul attacks | |
Ground | Speed-focused mount for rapid overland traversal | |
Dragon (Blackstar) | Aerial | Fire breath and aerial combat; 15-minute active / 50-minute cooldown |
Ground / Hover | Machine gun, lock-on missiles, jump jets, EMP; fuel-limited |
All mounts have their own attributes including movement speed, health points, and attacks that can be leveraged during combat. Mounts actively engage in combat alongside Kliff. Mounted combat allows Kliff to add his own weapon strikes while the mount performs its own attacks independently.
Beyond Blackstar and the Golden Star mechanical dragon, the game features additional airborne threats. A small fleet of mechanical flying creatures resembling pterodactyls has been shown in gameplay footage, and a giant serpent-like creature described as "brimming with energy" serves as another aerial encounter.
Dragon riding has been shown across several official videos:
Video | Content |
|---|---|
Features Overview #1 | Dragon riding showcased as part of traversal options in January 2026 |
Release Date Trailer | Scene of Kliff's organic dragon chasing Golden Star alongside the mech |
Features Overview #2 | Mount combat including dragon shown in February 2026 |
Golden Star Quest Gameplay | Nine-minute video from October 2025 showing aerial chase phase with Kliff's dragon |
No hands-on demo at gaming events included dragon riding. The Summer Game Fest 2025 and Gamescom 2025 sessions focused on the Calphade Rebellion questline and did not feature the Blackstar segment.
The existence of wyverns and other flying creatures ties into Crimson Desert's blend of medieval fantasy and advanced technology. The biological wyverns represent the traditional fantasy elements of Pywel, while Golden Star and the mechanical pterodactyls come from the technological side of the world, created by the genius inventor Marni. The floating realm known as The Abyss features sky islands accessible via aerial traversal, though whether Blackstar is specifically required to reach them has not been confirmed.
Make sure your Stamina is at Level 5 or higher before reaching the Chapter 9 taming sequence at Urdavah. If it is too low, the Aerial Maneuver will be impossible to perform.
During the taming sequence, hold the Resist prompt firmly whenever Blackstar dives and rolls. Releasing too early will throw Kliff off.
Save Blackstar for high-value targets. With a 50-minute cooldown, using the dragon to clear a single outlaw camp is rarely worth it unless the camp is particularly difficult.
Pace your Fireballs and Fire Breath to manage stamina. Stamina regenerates in the air, so alternating between attacking and gliding keeps you airborne longer.
Use the Fireball lock-on function to target multiple enemies before releasing a volley for maximum efficiency.
Blackstar cannot be summoned inside the Abyss. Plan accordingly when transitioning between Pywel and the Abyss.
The dragon is significantly faster than any ground mount, making the 15-minute active window useful for covering large distances even outside of combat.
