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Overview

Comrades in Crimson Desert are the Freesword members of the Greymanes who can be dispatched on missions from the Greymane Camp at Howling Hill. Unlike most RPGs where companions gain experience through combat, comrades in Crimson Desert do not have individual experience bars. Their levels and skills are tied directly to the development of the Greymane Camp itself. As the camp grows and reaches higher tiers, every comrade's skill levels increase automatically.

This means that the fastest way to strengthen your comrades is not to grind battles or repeat dispatch missions. Instead, you should focus on upgrading Howling Hill by progressing through the Grounds of the Sunrise faction quests and completing camp expansion dispatch missions. Each camp upgrade raises the skill levels of all your comrades simultaneously, unlocking new skill tiers and improving their effectiveness on every future mission.

How Comrade Leveling Works

The comrade leveling system in Crimson Desert is camp-driven rather than individual. There is no experience bar on any comrade's profile, and there is no way to grind a specific comrade to a higher level by sending them on repeated assignments. Every comrade's progression is a reflection of the camp's overall development tier.

When you complete a Howling Hill expansion dispatch mission, the camp reaches a new level. This upgrade raises the skill levels of all comrades at once. Comrades who already have a skill at Level 1 may see it jump to Level 2, and comrades who had locked skill slots may gain access to entirely new skills. The upgrade applies globally, so even comrades you have not used on a single mission benefit from the camp reaching a higher tier.

This design means that resource management, quest progression, and camp provisions are the three pillars of comrade growth. If you neglect any one of these, your comrades will stall at their current level regardless of how actively you dispatch them.

Skill Levels and Bonuses

Each comrade has a set of skills that correspond to dispatch mission types. When a comrade is assigned to a mission that matches one of their skills, they contribute a Skill Bonus that increases the mission's output. Higher skill levels provide larger bonuses.

If a comrade has all three levels of a single skill, that skill provides a full 100% Skill Bonus for matching missions. This stacking means that fully leveled comrades are significantly more productive than partially leveled ones, making camp upgrades essential for maximizing dispatch output.

Skill bonuses affect the quantity and quality of resources returned from dispatch missions. A comrade with a Level 3 Farming skill assigned to a Food Harvest mission will bring back substantially more food than a comrade with no matching skill at all. This has a compounding effect: better skills bring more resources, which fund more camp upgrades, which in turn raise skill levels further.

Step-by-Step: Leveling Up Your Comrades

The following steps outline the process for raising comrade levels from the moment you first gain access to the dispatch system through the late game.

Step 1: Unlock the Dispatch System

The dispatch system becomes available during the Pioneering quest in Chapter 3: Howling Hill. At this point you unlock your first two Freesword comrades, Luke and Ronald. Your first assignment is the Howling Hill Camp Expansion mission. Assign both of them and wait for the mission timer to complete (roughly 17 in-game hours). Once it finishes, the camp gains its first expansion, new tents and carts appear, and Marius opens additional recruitment quests.

Step 2: Complete Grounds of the Sunrise Quests

Open the Journal (Menu > Journal > Faction Quests > Greymanes) and look at the Grounds of the Sunrise tab. These quests are the primary driver of camp progression. They are marked with a tent icon on the mini-map, and most of them are straightforward fetch, escort, or talk-to quests. Completing each one moves the Greymane faction forward, which is the prerequisite for every camp expansion tier.

The faction questline is divided into several chains. The earliest chain, Embers of Return, contains seven missions that lay the groundwork for the camp. After completing it, the Gathered Will chain opens. Within these chains you will encounter recruitment missions that start with "A Rumor..." in the quest name. These are especially important because they add new comrades to your roster.

Step 3: Recruit More Comrades

Recruitment missions follow a consistent pattern. A quest titled "A Rumor in [Location]" appears in the Grounds of the Sunrise tab. Completing it brings one or more former Greymane members back to camp, each with their own skill set. For example:

• A Rumor at Glenbright Farm unlocks the Cook and the Quartermaster at camp.

• A Rumor in Goldleaf Trading Post brings six people to camp, including shop operators, ranch managers, and farmers.

• A Rumor in St. Halssius recruits Arnold, the Engineer, who is required for engineering dispatch missions.

More comrades mean more flexibility when assigning dispatch teams. Each mission can be staffed with a larger party for better output, and having comrades whose skills match the mission type is critical for activating the Skill Bonus.

Step 4: Run Camp Expansion Dispatch Missions

Camp expansion missions are the most important dispatches in the game. Unlike resource-gathering missions, expansion dispatches directly raise the camp's tier, which is what triggers comrade level-ups. These missions appear with a construction icon on the dispatch board, accessed by talking to Ross at camp.

Each expansion has prerequisites. You need a minimum number of recruited comrades plus sufficient camp provisions (food, timber, ore, equipment, and coin). Expansion costs escalate with each tier. Early expansions may require around 60 stone, 60 lumber, 400 food, and 1,600 copper, but later tiers demand far more. The fourth expansion in particular has steep armament costs that can create a bottleneck if you have not been stockpiling weapons and armor.

Step 5: Keep Dispatch Missions Running

While resource-gathering dispatches do not directly level up your comrades, they are essential for funding the next camp expansion. Regularly send comrades on mining, logging, food harvest, and security missions through Ross to accumulate the provisions Carl needs. These missions restart automatically unless you manually cancel them, so keep your roster busy at all times.

Dispatch Mission Types and Required Skills

Every dispatch mission has a type represented by a skill icon. Assigning at least one comrade with a matching skill activates the Skill Bonus for that mission. The following table lists the main dispatch mission categories, their resource costs, and what they produce.

Construction-type missions are the only ones that directly advance comrade levels. Every other mission type is a support function that generates the resources required to fund future expansions. Prioritize Construction missions when they are available, then fill your remaining comrade slots with resource-gathering missions to prepare for the next expansion tier.

Camp Provisions and Resource Management

Camp expansion requires donations of resources to the camp's provision stockpile, managed by Carl at the Greymane Camp. There are five provision categories, each represented by a distinct icon.

To donate, speak with Carl and select Camp Provisions from his menu. You can browse your inventory for items that display a donation icon. There is also a Donate Funds option for direct currency contributions. Keep in mind that donations are permanent and cannot be reversed. The only way to recover donated items is by loading an earlier save file.

Equipment is the hardest provision category to build up because weapons and armor take much longer to accumulate than raw materials. Start stockpiling armaments early by looting enemies rather than selling their gear to merchants. By the time you reach the fourth expansion, you will need a large reserve of equipment, and falling behind here will stall your comrade progression.

How Camp Level Affects Comrades

Your comrades' potential is capped by the level of the Greymane Camp. When the camp reaches a new tier, every recruited comrade gains access to higher skill levels. This means upgrading the camp is the single most important thing you can do for your team.

Upgrading Your Camp

Camp upgrades require timber, iron, and silver to improve the central facilities. Complete quests under the Grounds of the Sunrise tab, which are marked by a tent icon on the minimap. These are relatively straightforward missions that reward the materials needed for upgrades.

Skill Progression

Each comrade has skills that scale with camp level. The bonuses at each level are:

Other Ways to Help Your Comrades

• Complete Faction Quests: Follow the rumors from Marius at camp to discover new questlines. Faction quests often unlock new comrades and camp upgrades.

• Dispatch Missions: While dispatching comrades on missions does not directly level them, the resource rewards help you upgrade the camp faster.

• Recruit More Members: Some camp upgrades require a certain number of recruited comrades. Explore the world and complete side content to find new recruits.

Tips for Faster Comrade Progression

1. Always prioritize camp expansion missions. They are the only dispatches that directly raise comrade levels. Treat everything else as a support task.

2. Complete Grounds of the Sunrise quests early. These faction missions are the gatekeeping mechanism for camp expansion tiers. If you ignore them, you will hit a wall where no new expansion missions appear.

3. Match comrade skills to missions. Assigning a comrade whose skill matches the dispatch type activates the Skill Bonus, increasing resource output by up to 60% at Level 3. This generates more provisions per cycle.

4. Fill dispatch parties to maximum size. Larger parties produce better results even if not every member has a matching skill. Use your full roster rather than sending one or two comrades at a time.

5. Stockpile equipment from the start. Loot every enemy weapon, shield, and piece of armor you can find. Donate it all to Carl rather than selling it. Equipment is the hardest provision to accumulate and will become a bottleneck at higher tiers.

6. Use self-sustaining dispatch loops. Pair food-generating missions with resource-generating missions so your provisions grow on multiple fronts simultaneously. Mining missions consume food and coin, so make sure a food harvest mission is running in parallel.

7. Raid enemy bases with pets. Enemy encampments drop large amounts of gear and food when cleared. Bringing pets along increases your carry capacity and lets you haul everything back to Carl in one trip.

8. Do not neglect recruitment quests. More comrades allow you to staff more dispatch missions at once. The "A Rumor..." quests are quick to complete and each one adds valuable Freeswords to your roster.

Common Misconceptions

Dispatch Missions Level Up Comrades

This is the most common misunderstanding. Sending comrades on regular dispatch missions (mining, logging, farming, etc.) does not grant them any experience or raise their level. The rewards for these missions are camp provisions and resources. Only camp expansion dispatch missions advance the camp tier, which is what triggers comrade level-ups.

Grinding Makes Comrades Stronger

Because the leveling system is camp-driven, there is no way to grind a specific comrade into a higher skill tier. Every comrade benefits equally from each camp upgrade. A comrade you have never dispatched will reach the same level as one you have sent on dozens of missions, provided the camp tier is the same.

Comrades Learn Skills by Using Them

Skills do not improve through use. A comrade assigned to mining missions fifty times will not gain a higher Mining skill from the repetition alone. Skill levels are unlocked globally by camp upgrades. The only thing that matters for progression is the camp's overall development tier.

Comrade Management Through Ross

Ross is the NPC at the Greymane Camp marked by a helmet icon on the mini-map. He handles all dispatch operations. Through Ross you can:

• View all recruited comrades and their current skill levels

• Assign comrades to available dispatch missions

• Check mission progress and collect completed rewards

• Cancel or reassign ongoing missions

When selecting comrades for a mission, pay attention to the skill icon displayed on the mission card. Each mission type has a corresponding skill, and at least one comrade in the party should have a matching skill to activate the Skill Bonus. Ross does not provide skill training or manual level-ups. His role is purely operational.

Progression Timeline

Comrade progression follows a predictable path tied to the main story and faction questline. The following timeline gives a general sense of when major milestones occur.

The exact timing depends on how aggressively you pursue the Grounds of the Sunrise faction quests. Players who focus on these quests early will have fully leveled comrades well before the endgame. Players who ignore them in favor of side content may find their comrades stuck at Level 1 skills for an extended period.

Late-Game Considerations

In the later stages of the game, high-level dispatch missions like Ruins Dispatch and Engineering Production become available. These missions produce rare materials needed for upgrading top-tier gear, and they can only be accessed once the camp reaches a sufficiently high tier. This creates a direct connection between comrade progression and endgame gear acquisition.

Neglecting the camp economy during the mid-game creates a bottleneck at this stage. Players who arrive at late-game content without high-level comrades will need to backtrack through multiple expansion tiers before they can access the materials they need. Plan ahead by keeping dispatch missions running at all times and stockpiling provisions, especially equipment, well before you reach this point.

Once all camp expansion tiers are complete and every comrade's skills are at Level 3, the dispatch system transitions into a pure resource-generation loop. At that point, comrades are fully leveled and their role shifts from progression to sustaining the camp economy and funding late-game crafting and upgrades at the Smithy.

Related Articles

• Greymane Camp - Overview of the camp, its facilities, and upgrade system

• Dispatch Missions - Full guide to dispatching comrades on assignments

• Camp Provisions - Detailed breakdown of provision categories and donation mechanics

• Camp Expansion Guide - Step-by-step walkthrough of every expansion tier

• The Greymanes - Lore and background of the Greymane mercenary band

• Ross - NPC profile for the camp's dispatch manager

• Carl - NPC profile for the camp's provisions manager

• Freeswords - Overview of the Freesword class and their role in the game