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11 Overview
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33 The Engineering skill is a Freesword specialization in Crimson Desert that allows certain companions to participate in construction-oriented dispatch missions. You need at least one Freesword with Engineering to build a wagon, construct the Cloudcart (hot air balloon), and complete various camp expansion projects. Without an engineer in your roster, these dispatch options remain locked even if you have the required resources.
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55 Getting your first engineer requires progressing through the Greymane faction questline and completing a specific recruitment quest. This guide walks through every step from establishing the camp to dispatching your first engineering mission.
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77 Prerequisites
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1010 Before you can recruit an engineer, you need to complete several prerequisite steps at the Greymane Camp:
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1212 Establish the camp on Howling Hill. Complete the "A Fresh Start" quest at the beginning of Chapter 3 to set up the Greymane Camp. This involves finding the wagon, raising the banner, and driving a stake to mark the site.Progress the Grounds of the Sunrise questline. This faction quest chain focuses on finding scattered Greymane members and expanding the camp's basic infrastructure. You will recruit several companions during this chain, though none of them start with Engineering.Complete "Rumor in Glenbright Farm." This quest recruits Brice, the camp's wagon manager. Brice sets up the Base Camp Wagon Management Office, which is required before any wagon or vehicle construction dispatch missions become available.Work through Greymane Commissions. After Brice arrives, complete the requests listed under Greymane Commissions until Brice's Request unlocks. This typically becomes available around Chapter 4.
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1414 How to Recruit Arnold (First Engineer)
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1616 The fastest way to get an engineer at your camp is to recruit Arnold by completing the "Rumor in St. Halssius" faction quest. Arnold is the first Freesword most players encounter who already has the Engineering skill unlocked. He joins your camp roster immediately after the quest and can be assigned to engineering dispatch missions right away.
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1818 To trigger this quest, keep progressing the Greymane faction storyline while completing commissions. The quest sends Kliff to the St. Halssius area in the Hernand region. After completing the quest objectives and recruiting Arnold, return to camp and he will appear in your Freesword roster at the Base Camp Freesword Management Office run by Ross.
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2020 Freeswords with the Engineering Skill
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2222 Arnold is not the only companion who can serve as an engineer. Several other Freeswords either start with Engineering or can unlock it by leveling up through dispatch missions. This overview covers known companions with the skill:
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2424 FreeswordEngineering StatusHow to ObtainArnoldStarts with EngineeringComplete "Rumor in St. Halssius" faction questFalstaffStarts with EngineeringRecruited through the Greymane faction questlineTerryMust level up to unlockRecruited first, then level through dispatch missionsOttoMust level up to unlockRecruited first, then level through dispatch missions
2525 Any Freesword with the Engineering skill can fill the engineer requirement for dispatch missions. If Arnold has not been recruited yet, you can also wait for Falstaff to join through the main faction quest progression.
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2727 What Engineering Unlocks
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2929 Once you have at least one Freesword with Engineering in your roster, several new dispatch mission types become available. These missions are accessed through the dispatch interface at the Greymane Camp.
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3131 Wagon Construction
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3333 After completing Brice's Request and recruiting an engineer, you can order wagons at Timberturner Wainwright, a workshop located northeast of the camp on the map. Open the map, inspect the Timberturner Wainwright location, navigate to the Mission List tab, and select the wagon you want to build. Three tiers of wagon are available at different resource costs:
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3535 Wagon TierDescriptionUseBasic WagonEntry-level transport with limited cargo spaceShort-distance hauling and early trade routesFreight WagonLarger cargo capacity for bulk goodsMedium to long-distance tradingTrading WagonHighest cargo capacity with trade bonusesLong-distance trading runs for maximum profit
3636 Each wagon takes time to construct after the dispatch mission is sent. You can rest at camp beds to pass in-game time while waiting for construction to finish.
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3838 Cloudcart (Hot Air Balloon)
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4040 The Cloudcart is an aerial vehicle that lets you travel across Pywel by air. To start building a Cloudcart, you need to:
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4242 Discover Emberwind Workshop. This location is in the Hernand Highlands, directly south of the Greymane Camp at Howling Hill.Have a Freesword with Engineering. At least one member of the dispatch team must have the Engineering skill.Assemble a full dispatch team. The Cloudcart construction mission requires five Freeswords, one of whom must be the engineer.
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4444 After the initial Cloudcart is built, additional engineering dispatch missions become available to upgrade it. These include Enhanced Cloudcart Efficiency (reduces travel resource costs) and Enhanced Cloudcart Altitude (increases maximum flight ceiling, opening new areas). Both upgrade missions cost silver and take several in-game hours to complete.
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4646 Camp Expansion Projects
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4848 Certain Greymane Camp expansion contracts also benefit from having engineers on the dispatch team. While not every expansion mission requires the Engineering skill specifically, assigning an engineer to construction-type missions improves the conversion bonus percentage, resulting in faster completion times and better outcomes. The dispatch interface shows you how well each Freesword's skills match a given mission before you confirm the assignment.
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5050 Freesword Skill System
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5252 Each Freesword companion has individual stats and one or more specializations that determine their effectiveness on different dispatch mission types. Engineering is one of several skill categories in the system:
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5454 Skill CategoryMission TypesEngineeringWagon construction, Cloudcart building, workshop upgradesConstructionCamp expansion, building statues, infrastructure projectsLoggingTimber gathering missions (Basic, Mastery, Expert tiers)FarmingCrop harvesting, food production dispatch missionsRanchingAnimal husbandry, livestock product collection (Basic, Mastery tiers)CombatMilitary operations, fortress sieges, area clearing
5555 Freeswords can level up their skills by completing missions in the corresponding category. Terry and Otto, for example, do not start with Engineering but can unlock it after gaining enough experience from dispatch missions. Sending the right Freeswords to the right missions maximizes the conversion bonus shown in the dispatch interface.
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5757 Step-by-Step Summary
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5959 Establish the Greymane Camp on Howling Hill during Chapter 3.Progress the Grounds of the Sunrise questline to recruit companions and expand the camp.Complete "Rumor in Glenbright Farm" to recruit Brice (wagon manager).Complete Greymane Commissions until Brice's Request unlocks (around Chapter 4).Complete "Rumor in St. Halssius" to recruit Arnold (first engineer).Visit Ross at the Freesword Management Office to verify Arnold is in your roster.Open the dispatch interface and assign Arnold to engineering missions (wagons, Cloudcart, expansions).
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6161 Mech Workers as Late-Game Personnel
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6363 Once you reach Chapter 11 of the main story, a second path for filling engineering-style dispatch slots opens up at camp. Mech workers are craftable mechanical companions that fill the same dispatch slots as Greymane comrades, which means they can stand in for the personnel count on engineer-required missions as long as a single qualified Freesword is on the team to cover the Engineering skill check.
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6565 Unlock Chain
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6767 Two prerequisites need to be completed before the mech worker crafting option appears. Both sit within the Delesyia region and both become accessible only after the Chapter 11 story gate has cleared.
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6969 Liberate Money's Steel Armory in Delesyia. Clear the surrounding enemies and complete the area liberation objective to add the armory to your allied locations.Complete the Dohaven Researcher's Chea Research project at the research board inside Dohaven Castle. This is the specific research mission that unlocks the ability to craft mech workers and is the project referenced by the "further research required" prompt on the mech worker dispatch entry.
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7171 Warning: Never wear your mask inside Dohaven Castle. The castle guards interpret the mask as a hostile signal on sight and will all turn on you the moment you enter. Take the mask off before entering the castle, speak to the Dohaven Researcher, queue up the Chea Research project, and only put the mask back on once you are outside the castle walls again.
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7373 Why it Matters for Engineering Missions
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7575 Mech workers come with a level 3 Mining skill baseline, which makes them immediately useful on mining dispatches without any additional training through camp expansions. More importantly for engineer-focused players, mech workers can be assigned alongside a qualified Freesword engineer to cover the rest of the personnel slots on any engineering-heavy mission. This pairs extremely well with the Cloudcart construction dispatch and the high-tier wagon builds described above, both of which require a full five-person team. Pair Arnold (or any other Engineering-capable Freesword) with mech workers to satisfy the headcount instantly, rather than waiting to recruit enough organic comrades.
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7777 Combined with the hired-worker option unlocked by the Seal of Devotion earlier in the story, mech workers effectively remove the personnel bottleneck entirely. You should never have an empty engineering dispatch slot after unlocking both systems, only resource-cost bottlenecks.
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7979 Tips
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8181 Arnold is the easiest engineer to recruit because his quest becomes available relatively early in the faction storyline. Do not skip the "Rumor in St. Halssius" quest if you want access to wagons and the Cloudcart as soon as possible.If you recruit Terry or Otto before Arnold, you can still get Engineering from them eventually. Assign them to construction-adjacent dispatch missions to help them gain experience toward unlocking the skill.The Cloudcart requires five Freeswords total, so make sure you have enough companions recruited before attempting the mission. Continue working through the Greymane faction quests to grow your roster.Always check the conversion bonus percentage before dispatching. A team with a high conversion bonus finishes faster and yields better rewards.Wagons are essential for the trading system. Getting an engineer early means you can start earning silver through trade routes sooner, which in turn funds further camp upgrades.You can rest at camp beds to pass in-game time, speeding up dispatch mission timers. Use this while waiting for wagon or Cloudcart construction to complete.