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Legendary animals are 24 rare and powerful creatures scattered across the world of Pywel in Crimson Desert. These creatures are far stronger and rarer than their normal counterparts, and tracking them down is one of the most rewarding side activities in the game. Of the 24 legendary animals, 19 are found on land and 5 are found in water. They span four broad categories: herbivores that drop cosmetic items for your player house, predators that drop powerful equipment and abyss gears, legendary horses that can be tamed as mounts, and legendary fish that can be caught with a fishing rod.
The legendary animal system becomes available once you unlock the Legendary Wolf quest through the House Celeste faction questline. Defeating the Legendary Wolf, Black Fang, rewards you with Leebur's Soul, a key item that fills out your knowledge and reveals the map locations of all remaining legendary animals. While it is possible to stumble upon some legendary animals before this point, the quest is by far the most efficient way to track them down. The earliest you can access this content is Chapter 5, though Chapter 6 or later is recommended for a smoother experience.
For details specifically about the three legendary horses (Royler, Rokade, and Camora), see the dedicated Legendary Horses article. For general information about the fishing system, see the Fishing Guide.
The legendary animal system is gated behind a chain of faction quests that spans three houses. You cannot simply walk up to Black Fang at the start of the game; the quest "Howls from the North Gate" must be available in your quest log first. Below is the full prerequisite chain.
Begin with the House Roberts faction quests in the Hernand region. Complete the following quests in order:
Estate in Disarray (introduces the House Roberts questline)
Take Back the Quarry (reclaim the quarry from bandits)
Continuing Concern (follow up on the quarry situation)
Crimson Nightmare (defeat the Crimson Nightmare boss)
Boulder From the Sky (investigate the fallen boulder)
Next, progress through the House Alfonso questline and the Fisherman Guild tasks. These involve liberating territories and completing several objectives:
Liberate Rocker's Hill
Liberate the fort on Anvil Hill
Investigate the thief questline
Lord Amidst the Ruins (defeat the Staglord boss)
Hooves Through the Wind (win the horse race)
Finally, work through the House Celeste faction quests. This is the longest chain and includes the following:
Queen of Silk Spun Citadel
Abandoned Factory
Hellhounds
Where Land Meets Sky
Missing Relic
Beyond the Silent Waves
Girl Lost in the Mist
After completing "Girl Lost in the Mist," the quest "Howls from the North Gate" becomes available. This quest sends you to track and defeat Black Fang, the legendary wolf, in the Forest of Wolves north of The Sage's Peak in Hernand.
Black Fang is a massive wolf found in the Forest of Wolves in the Hernand region, north of The Sage's Peak. Unlike other legendary animals, Black Fang is tied directly to the "Howls from the North Gate" quest and is the gatekeeper for the entire legendary animal system. The fight takes place in two phases, and Black Fang roams with a pack of regular wolves that will attack alongside him.
Black Fang is locked behind multiple prerequisite quest chains. You must complete the House Roberts questline, the Alfonso questline, and the Fisherman Guild tasks before the House Celeste legendary wolf quest becomes available. This makes Black Fang one of the later-game legendary encounters, typically accessible around Chapter 5 at the earliest.
Once you have the quest active, travel to the Forest of Wolves. Equip your Lantern and activate it (L1 on controller, or the corresponding key on keyboard). A glowing golden trail will appear on the ground, leading you along the path to Black Fang's location. Follow this trail through the forest until you reach the wolf pack.
Black Fang is a two-phase boss fight. In the first phase, he attacks alongside several regular wolves. Clear the smaller wolves first to avoid being overwhelmed, then focus your damage on Black Fang. After depleting his first health bar, a short cutscene plays and the second phase begins with a fresh health bar and more aggressive attack patterns.
Fire damage is extremely effective against all animals in Crimson Desert. Fire charged arrows are particularly useful: when a fire attack connects, animals are hard crowd-controlled, dropping to the ground and rolling around trying to extinguish the flames. This gives you several free seconds of damage. Skills like Flame Strike make this fight significantly easier.
Defeating Black Fang grants three major rewards:
Shadow Claw: An abyss gear that unleashes three shadow claw swipes forward with each attack, adding 3 extra hits of damage. Shadow Claw is one of the strongest offensive abyss gears in the game because it effectively multiplies your damage output on every swing. It can be socketed into melee weapons at any Witch vendor.
Leebur's Soul: A key item that, when consumed from your inventory, permanently fills out your creature knowledge and reveals the locations of all 24 legendary animals on the world map. Each legendary animal appears as a distinct marker, making them easy to locate and track.
Abyss Artifact: A standard abyss artifact reward for skill point investment.
The 24 legendary animals fall into four distinct categories. Each category drops a different type of reward, so knowing what you are hunting helps you prioritize based on what you need.
Category | Count | Reward Type | Identification |
|---|---|---|---|
Herbivores | 7 (deer, bison, moose, elk, phoenix) | Cosmetic items (furniture, decorations for player house) | Must be spotted visually; do not appear as red dots on the minimap |
Predators | 6 (wolves, lions, tigers, bears, crocodile, hyena) | Equipment (armor, jewelry, weapons with abyss gears) | Appear as red dots on the minimap, easier to locate |
Tameable mounts with superior stats | Found near specific lakes or meadows | ||
Legendary Fish | 5 (Golden Tench, Golden Carp, Clockwork Fish, and others) | Valuable fish (10 silver each) | Caught with the Pororin Fishing Rod |
Predators are generally easier to find because they show up as red enemy dots on your minimap when you are close enough. Herbivores require more careful visual scanning since they blend in with regular herds. Legendary fish are stationary at their spawn points and require the right fishing rod to catch. Remember to skin every animal after killing it to collect its loot.
The tables below list every known legendary animal in Crimson Desert, organized by category. Locations include specific map reference points based on confirmed sightings. After using Leebur's Soul, each animal is marked on the world map with a unique icon.
Land predators drop combat equipment and abyss gears. They appear as red dots on the minimap, making them easier to locate than herbivores. Most legendary predators are straightforward fights if you bring fire damage, though the White Tiger and Carrion King stand out as notably harder encounters.
Animal | Location | Region | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
Forest of Wolves, north of The Sage's Peak. Quest-locked behind House Celeste (requires House Roberts, Alfonso, and Fisherman Guild completion first). | Shadow Claw (abyss gear), Leebur's Soul (reveals all legendary animals) | ||
Cave south of Pailune. Locked behind Black Fang completion; you must defeat Black Fang first before Silver Fang becomes accessible. | Silver Fang Helmet (wolf disguise headgear) | ||
North of Demeniss, near the Crimson Wall. Locked behind a House Celeste quest; does not appear until the required quest is completed. | Equipment drop | ||
Far northeast of the Crimson Desert region, near Vania. Late-game area with high-level enemies. | White Lion Necklace (attack + critical rate) | ||
Northeast of Demeniss. One of the harder legendary predator fights. | Demeniss | ||
White Scaled Crocodile | Red River area, right side of the map near Demeniss. | Demeniss | |
Top left of the map near the Darkbringer area. Found with two bear cubs nearby. | White Bear Helm (bear disguise headgear) | ||
Red River Hog | Red River, right side of the map. Found among a group of piglets. | Chalice of Devouring (large decorative mug for player house) | |
Upper right of the map. Triggers via auto-quest (bounty notice board in Tommaso). No faction prerequisites needed. |
Legendary herbivores drop decorative items for your player house. Unlike predators, they do not appear as red dots on the minimap, so you need to spot them visually among regular herds. Each herbivore drops a unique piece of furniture or decoration with its own visual effect.
Animal | Location | Region | Reward | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Near the letter A in Pailune on the world map. | A throne furniture piece for your house. | |||
South of Serpent's Marsh, southeast of Hernand. Found by a giant flowering tree. | Hernand | A table decoration. The Vine Deer has flowering antlers that change with the seasons. | ||
White Bison | Crimson Desert region, near a body of water. | A functional lamp that gives off light in your house. | ||
White Moose | East of Pailune, in the mountains. | A chandelier made from antlers. Lights up the room when placed. | ||
White Elk | Far left of Pailune, near the Upper Nas River. | Beholder | A large table lamp decoration. | |
Near the letter P in Pailune on the world map, on the mountainside. Close to Royler's spawn location. | A wall decoration piece. | |||
Middle of the open desert region (Crimson Desert proper). Appears as a golden bird traveling with a flock. | Crimson Desert | Unknown (quest-locked) | Appears to be immortal; cannot be killed in normal gameplay. Likely quest-locked behind undiscovered content. |
The three legendary horses are tamed rather than killed. Each becomes a permanent mount with stats far exceeding any regular horse. See the dedicated Legendary Horses article for full stats and taming mechanics.
Horse | Location | Region | Specialization |
|---|---|---|---|
Below the letter P in Pailune on the world map. Snowy area near a body of water, with a legendary fish spawning nearby. | Speed and stamina (fastest horse in the game) | ||
South of the map near Steel Mountain, near the Spire of Insight in the Steel Mountains. Found by a tower near a lake. | Health and durability (tankiest war horse) | ||
Right side of the map near the Red River. Located in an area with an amazing, distinctive tree. | Attack and defense (best combat mount) |
The five legendary fish can only be caught using the Pororin Fishing Rod, obtained through the fishing research system at the Research Institute. Each legendary fish sells for 10 silver, making them among the most valuable individual catches in the game. Legendary fish require multiple reeling phases rather than a single reel, so expect longer fights at the rod.
Fish | Location | Selling Price |
|---|---|---|
Near the letter P in Pailune on the world map, close to Royler's spawn. | 10 Silver | |
Southwest of Delesyia, near a sanctum. | 10 Silver | |
Golden variant found in the same general area southwest of Delesyia. | 10 Silver | |
Near Pailune, small body of water. | 10 Silver | |
Crimson Desert region, found in a small pool. | 10 Silver |
Skevald is a legendary hyena boss and one of the most challenging legendary animals in the game. Unlike other legendary animals that can simply be hunted in the wild, Skevald has his own bounty quest called "Lords of Unclaimed Lands," which is found on a bounty notice board in Tommaso. This quest triggers automatically as an auto-quest and has no faction prerequisites, so it can be picked up as soon as you discover the notice. Skevald is located in the upper right of the map.
Skevald operates in two combat phases with two separate health bars and is protected by a pack of lesser hyenas throughout the fight. His signature mechanic is a red poison gas that fills the arena, slowly draining your health for as long as you remain inside it. Bring plenty of recovery items like Braised Meat and Meat Skewers. Fire damage is especially effective here, as it will hard crowd-control Skevald just like any other animal, giving you free damage windows during his recovery animations.
Defeating Skevald rewards the Putrid Touch abyss gear and the Hyena Helm, a piece of headgear with strong defensive stats.
White Horn is a legendary boss that inhabits the Argent Peaks west of Skoghorn Farm in the Pailune region. White Horn is classified as a New Power challenge rather than a standard legendary animal hunt, but it is included in the broader legendary creature system. The quest "White Horn of Snowhaven Hearth" is unlocked through the Skoghorn Tribe faction quests after completing the "Deep-Rooted Sorrow" chain.
White Horn is a three-phase boss fight and one of the toughest optional encounters in the game. He has an enormous health pool and hits extremely hard. Fire damage, particularly Flame Strike, is once again the recommended approach. When set on fire, White Horn drops to the ground and rolls, giving you a generous window to deal damage. Bring ice-resistant armor if possible, as the snowy environment drains your stamina faster without it. Stock up on recovery items before the fight.
The White Lion is found in the far northeast of the Crimson Desert region, near Vania. This is a late-game area with high-level enemies, so attempting it before Chapter 6 or later is risky. The White Lion has a massive health pool compared to other legendary predators and hits hard with sweeping claw attacks. Fire damage works well to stagger it.
A useful trick for this fight: the White Lion can be knocked off cliffs for an instant kill. If you position yourself carefully near a cliff edge during the encounter, a well-timed heavy attack or knockback skill can send the White Lion tumbling off the ledge, bypassing the need to whittle down its health pool.
Defeating the White Lion drops the White Lion Necklace, a piece of jewelry that provides bonuses to both attack power and critical hit rate. This makes it one of the more sought-after legendary animal rewards for offensive builds.
The Black Lion roams north of Demeniss, near the Crimson Wall. It is notable for being quest-locked behind a House Celeste quest. The Black Lion does not appear in the world until the required quest is completed, which is why multiple players have reported the Black Lion "vanishing" from its spawn area. If the map marker is present but the lion is nowhere to be found, check your House Celeste quest progress. Patience and careful scanning of the area are required once the quest unlock condition is met.
The Phoenix is widely considered the most elusive legendary animal in the game. It is located somewhere in the middle of the open desert region (the Crimson Desert proper) and is the only legendary bird among the 24 creatures. The Phoenix appears as a golden bird traveling with a flock of smaller birds.
The Phoenix appears to be immortal in normal gameplay. Multiple players have reported being unable to kill it despite sustained attacks. It seems to be quest-locked behind undiscovered content, meaning the Phoenix likely cannot be defeated until a specific quest or condition is met. Its exact drop reward remains unknown. If you are attempting to complete the full set of 24, the Phoenix may need to wait until the required quest becomes available.
Patch 1.04 reclassified the Phoenix encounter. What was once an apparently immortal flying legendary animal with no visible reward is now a defeatable creature that drops a key crafting ingredient and unlocks the game's first legendary bird. If you skipped this encounter because nothing happened when you shot it, come back after updating: the fight now resolves properly and the rewards are substantial.
The Phoenix still spawns in the same general area as before, but it is worth pinning down precisely. Travel to the region in the north of the map and aim for the watering hole at , which sits just south of the . From the nearest fast-travel point, drop a map marker on the lake in this area and ride or glide towards it. The Phoenix will be flying in a slow orbit around the lake and the surrounding dunes, accompanied by a flock of smaller colorful birds that make it easy to pick out against the sand.
If it is not visible when you arrive, stand on the fast-travel point and trigger it again to reload the zone. Reloading the area forces the Phoenix and its flock to re-roam, and it usually appears within a minute or two of scanning. Saving before the encounter is also strongly recommended, because if you knock the Phoenix out of the sky but fail to kill it before it escapes, it can vanish from the area for several in-game days.
Bow work is the cleanest solution. Bring a bow with ammunition loaded, and make sure the charge shot skill is slotted at its highest rank. The slow-motion aim mode makes lining up a moving aerial target much easier; use it to stack target marks on the Phoenix while it passes overhead. Between three and five marks followed by a fully charged explosive shot is usually enough to drop it in a single volley, but its health pool is still high. Multiple charged shots across two attempts is normal on harder difficulties.
Positioning matters more than firepower. The Phoenix does not move fast unless it has been damaged, so track its flight path and get directly underneath it before aiming up. Shooting while mounted, gliding, or falling wastes arrows, because the charge-shot lock requires a stationary stance. If you miss your first volley and the Phoenix speeds up and scatters, do not chase it forever: return to the fast-travel point, reload, and try again with a fresh approach angle.
Frost imbuement gives a small but useful window. A frost-procced arrow will briefly freeze the Phoenix in mid-air, giving you a second or two to line up a clean charged shot while it hovers. Fire imbuement also pairs well with explosive arrows for raw damage. Regular arrows and firearm shots are not recommended, because several streamers have reported being unable to bring it down with standard ammunition no matter how many rounds they land.
Once the Phoenix hits the ground, run to its body and skin it before it despawns. Skinning yields two named drops:
Phoenix Feather: the key item used to craft the Sigil of Solidarity at any witch's crafting bench. Without this feather the sigil recipe will not appear.
Nightmare Burner: a dream-catcher style wall decoration for your player house. It functions as a cosmetic furniture piece and slots into the wall decoration category alongside the other legendary animal trophies.
Take the feather to any witch. The all share the same crafting menu, so you can use whichever is closest. The first witch you encounter in the story, stationed near Hernand, is the most convenient choice for most players. Open her crafting menu, scroll to the Special Items tab at the end of the list, and craft the (Phoenix). This follows the same pattern as the sigils used for the other legendary mounts, but the Phoenix becomes a legendary pet rather than a mount because of the new bird taming system introduced in this patch.
After crafting, open your inventory, locate the sigil (it may land in the key items or special items tab depending on your filter), and use it. The Phoenix is then registered in your pet list and can be summoned and dismissed like any other pet.
The Phoenix pet is a flying companion. Unlike ground pets it will not land to follow you, it hovers nearby and weaves around the area you are exploring. Its standout feature is looting speed: because it is airborne, it can sweep across a battlefield and pick up every dropped item in a wide radius far faster than a cat or dog pet on foot. This makes it extremely useful for farming zones with scattered loot, clearing caravan ambushes, or vacuuming up the piles of drops left after an abyss or legendary encounter.
When you stand still in the world, the Phoenix will circle down and land on your character's extended arm, a small touch that makes for distinctive screenshots. It shares the pet accessory and naming system introduced in this patch, so you can rename it in the pet menu and (once Pearl Abyss expands the accessory line beyond cats) fit it with bird-specific gear.
Because the Phoenix is a legendary pet, it occupies the pet slot rather than the mount slot. You can still summon a horse, camel, or sky streaker at the same time, so carrying the Phoenix as your default looter does not conflict with any of your regular mounts.
Players who had already spotted the knowledge entry before the patch will see it update automatically once the feather is obtained and the sigil is crafted.
Black Fang is a two-phase boss fight with two separate health bars. The encounter begins with Black Fang accompanied by a pack of regular wolves. In the first phase, focus on clearing the smaller wolves to avoid being overwhelmed, then turn your attention to Black Fang himself. After depleting his first health bar, a cutscene plays and the second phase begins with a fresh health bar and more aggressive, faster attack patterns.
The prerequisite chain for Black Fang is the longest in the game. You must complete House Roberts, the Alfonso questline, and the Fisherman Guild tasks before House Celeste's legendary wolf quest unlocks. This makes Black Fang typically a mid-to-late-game encounter.
The Silver Fang is found in a cave south of Pailune. This legendary wolf is locked behind Black Fang completion: you must defeat Black Fang first before the Silver Fang becomes accessible. The fight itself is less challenging than Black Fang, as Silver Fang does not have a two-phase mechanic.
Defeating Silver Fang rewards the Silver Fang Helmet, a headgear piece that doubles as a wolf disguise. Wearing the Silver Fang Helmet changes your character's appearance to resemble a wolf, which can be useful for stealth approaches and makes for a distinctive cosmetic choice.
The White Bear is found in the top left of the map, near the Darkbringer area. It roams with two bear cubs nearby. The White Bear has a large health pool and powerful swipe attacks, but fire damage staggers it reliably.
Defeating the White Bear rewards the White Bear Helm, a headgear piece that functions as a bear disguise. Like the Silver Fang Helmet's wolf disguise, the White Bear Helm changes your character's appearance to resemble a bear.
The Vine Deer is found south of Serpent's Marsh, southeast of Hernand, near a giant flowering tree. It is one of the more visually distinctive legendary animals. Its antlers are covered in blooming flowers, and the appearance of these flowers changes with the seasons. Because the Vine Deer is a herbivore, it does not appear as a red dot on the minimap. You will need to scan herds of regular deer visually and look for the one with flowers growing from its antlers.
Defeating the Vine Deer drops the Aged Branch, a table decoration for your player house.
Patch 1.01 added the ability to permanently register three legendary animals as summonable mounts. After defeating these animals, players can skin them for a unique crafting item, take it to a Witch that crafts abyss gear, and craft a Sigil of Solidarity. Using the sigil from inventory permanently registers the animal as a mount.
All three mounts require access to a witch, which is unlocked during Chapter 5 after completing the missing seal quest. If you defeated any of these legendary animals before the patch, the required crafting item is automatically added to your inventory on your next login.
Silver Fang requires the most effort to obtain. You must first complete the legendary wolf quest from House Celeste by defeating Black Fang. After that questline is finished, return to Howling Hollow (near where Black Fang was fought). Silver Fang will have spawned there. Defeat it, skin it to obtain the Fang of Silver Fang, then take it to a witch and craft the Sigil of Solidarity.
The White Bear has no quest prerequisites. It is located in the northwest of the map, west of Silver Wolf Mountain and just south of the White Waste Sanctuary. Find and defeat the White Bear, skin it to obtain the Claws of the White Bear, then take it to a witch and craft the Sigil of Solidarity.
The Snowwhite Deer also has no quest prerequisites. It can be found along the stream by the giant letter A in Paylune on the world map. Try dropping down from above for an element of surprise, as the deer may flee if it spots you approaching on foot. Defeat it, skin it for its unique crafting item, and take it to a witch to craft the Sigil of Solidarity.
Defeating Black Fang during the legendary wolf quest drops the Shadow Claw abyss gear piece and a special item called Leebur's Soul. Consuming Leebur's Soul fills out all knowledge entries on legendary animals in the journal, saving you the effort of discovering each animal's entry individually.
While the Legendary Wolf quest is the intended method for revealing all legendary animal locations, there is an alternative approach for players who want to find them earlier or cannot complete the prerequisite questline yet.
The alternative method involves building trust with specific merchants, particularly Saddlery and Tannery merchants in major towns. Once you reach 100% trust with a merchant, their shop inventory expands to include Sighting Documents. Purchase these documents, then open your inventory and read them. Each document provides knowledge about a specific legendary creature, including its distinguishing features.
After reading a Sighting Document, open your menu and navigate to Others, then Knowledge, then Creatures, and select the Legendary Creatures tab. The document will have added an entry with the creature's traits, and sometimes its approximate location will be shown on the map.
This method is slower and more expensive than defeating Black Fang, but it lets you begin hunting legendary animals without completing the faction quest chain. A useful trick: save your game before spending resources to maximize a merchant's trust level. If the merchant does not stock the sighting document you want, reload and try a different merchant. This prevents wasting silver on trust-building that does not yield the document you need.
Legendary animals share many combat behaviors with their normal counterparts, but they hit harder, have much larger health pools, and some have multi-phase encounters. Most legendary animals are fairly easy to take down once you know the right strategy, though the White Tiger and Carrion King are notably harder than the rest. The following tips apply broadly to all legendary animal fights.
Use fire damage: Fire is the single most effective element against animals in Crimson Desert. When a fire attack connects, the animal is hard crowd-controlled. It drops to the ground and rolls around trying to put out the flames, giving you several seconds of uninterrupted damage. Flame Strike is the most commonly recommended skill for this purpose.
Fire charged arrows: Fire charged arrows are especially effective for legendary animal encounters. A single fire charged arrow will knock most animals over, giving you a free opening to rush in with melee attacks while they recover. Keep a stock of fire arrows before heading out on a hunt.
Skin every animal: After killing a legendary animal, always skin it to collect the loot. The reward items come from the skinning action, not from the kill itself. Forgetting to skin means you miss the drop entirely.
Predators appear on the minimap: Carnivorous legendary animals (wolves, lions, tigers, bears, crocodiles, hyenas) show up as red dots on your minimap when you are within detection range. This makes them significantly easier to locate than herbivores.
Herbivores require visual identification: Legendary herbivores (deer, bison, moose, elk) do not show on the minimap as hostile. You need to visually scan herds and look for the one that stands out. Legendary herbivores are typically larger, differently colored, or have unique features like the Vine Deer's flowering antlers.
Bring recovery items: Stock Braised Meat and Meat Skewers before any legendary hunt. These restore both health and spirit, keeping you in the fight longer during multi-phase encounters.
Save before engaging: Save at the nearest campsite before approaching a legendary animal. Some of them can be tricky to find again if you die or need to retreat.
Use environmental kills: Some legendary animals can be knocked off cliffs for an instant kill. The White Lion in particular is vulnerable to this tactic. Position yourself near a cliff edge and use knockback attacks to send the animal tumbling.
Consider your level: The earliest access point for the Legendary Wolf quest is Chapter 5, but most legendary animals are balanced for Chapter 6 or later. The White Lion in particular is in a late-game area with very high enemy levels.
Understanding what each category of legendary animal drops will help you decide which to hunt first based on your current needs.
Predators drop combat gear: armor pieces, jewelry, and weapons that often come pre-socketed with abyss gears. These are among the best equipment items in the game for their respective slots. Notable predator drops include:
Shadow Claw (abyss gear from Black Fang): Adds 3 shadow claw swipes to your attacks, effectively tripling your hit count per swing
Silver Fang Helmet (from Silver Fang): Headgear that doubles as a wolf disguise
White Bear Helm (from White Bear): Headgear that doubles as a bear disguise
White Lion Necklace (from White Lion): Boosts attack power and critical hit rate
Pale Predator's Leather Gloves (from White Scaled Crocodile): Gloves that provide a movement speed bonus
Tiger Fang Ring (from White Tiger): Ring with combat bonuses
Putrid Touch (abyss gear from Skevald) + Hyena Helm: Defensive headgear from the Carrion King bounty
Herbivores drop decorative and cosmetic items that are placed in your player house. These do not provide combat stats but contribute to housing completion and visual customization. Each decoration has a unique visual effect. Notable herbivore drops include:
Throne of the White Knight (from Snow White Deer): A throne furniture piece
Aged Branch (from Vine Deer): A table decoration
Lamp of Crossed Dreams (from White Bison): A functional lamp that gives off light
Beckoning Forest (from White Moose): A chandelier made from antlers that lights up the room
Beholder (from White Elk): A large table lamp
White King's Candlestick (from Great White Bison): A wall decoration piece
Chalice of Devouring (from Red River Hog): A large decorative mug
If you are focused on combat progression, prioritize predators first. The house decorations are nice collectibles but have no impact on your character's power.
The three legendary horses (Royler, Rokade, Camora) are not killed but tamed. Each one becomes a permanent mount with stats far exceeding any regular horse. Royler is the fastest mount in the game, Rokade is the tankiest, and Camora deals the most damage in mounted combat. See the Legendary Horses article for full details on stats, locations, and taming mechanics.
The five legendary fish each sell for 10 silver, making them some of the most valuable individual catches in the game. They can only be caught using the Pororin Fishing Rod, which is obtained through the fishing research system at the Research Institute. Each legendary fish requires multiple reeling phases rather than a single reel, so expect longer fights at the rod. The legendary fish do not provide equipment or cosmetics; their value is purely monetary.
Patch 1.05.00 on May 2, 2026 added two new legendary bird pets and one new legendary boss to the world map. The new entries below complement the launch legendary roster and the Patch 1.04 Phoenix reclassification covered above.
The Iron Eagle is a legendary mechanical bird at Hawkstone Ruins south of the City of Delesyia. Activate the cogwheel statue at dawn (around 4:45 to 5:00 AM in-game), place the Sotdae of Bond near the statue, and load it with 20 Mercury ores. At Trust +100 the Take In prompt registers the Iron Eagle as a pet. Tame the Hyacinth Macaw first if you want both legendary birds; the reverse order can block the Macaw spawn.
The Hyacinth Macaw is a legendary parrot at Giant's Yard Outpost in the Redtree Forest near the Red River. Place the Sotdae of Bond on the cliff lines near the camp and load it with 7 Desert Melons (each Melon = 15 Trust). Take In at +100 Trust to register the Macaw.
The Mountain God Boar is a boss-class encounter (not a tameable pet) in the Odeck area of Pailune, north of Silver Wolf Mountain. Read the Lumberjack's Witness Report at Pailune Saddlery, then destroy enough trees in the nearby forest to enrage the boss. Single-phase fight with summoned smaller boar minions; drops include Fine Timber, Flawless Timber, Tree Branches, and a rare Abyss Artifact. Cannot currently serve as a special mount.
With the 1.05 additions, the legendary bird category now contains the Phoenix, the Iron Eagle, and the Hyacinth Macaw. The Mountain God Boar joins the legendary boss roster but does not appear in the pet category, since it cannot currently be summoned or registered. See Patch 1.05.00 for the full patch context.
Several hunting challenges reference legendary animals directly. Completing these challenges grants Abyss Artifacts and other progression rewards.
This hunting challenge requires you to hunt and skin four specific legendary animals: the Silver Fang, the White Bear, the White Scaled Crocodile, and the White Bison. All four must be defeated in a single save file. Completing this challenge rewards an Abyss Artifact and the Beastbane perk, which increases damage dealt to powerful creatures.
Legendary animals are distributed across every major region of Pywel. The following breakdown helps you plan efficient hunting routes by visiting nearby creatures together.
Region | Legendary Animals Found |
|---|---|
Black Fang, Black Lion, Vine Deer, White Elk, Rokade | |
Snow White Deer, White Moose, Great White Bison, White Lion, White Bear, White Horn, Royler, Silver Fang, Golden Tench, Golden Carp | |
White Bison, Skevald, Phoenix, Camora, Clockwork Fish | |
White Scaled Crocodile, White Tiger, Red River Hog | |
Various Waters | Golden Tench, Coelacanth, Golden Coelacanth, Golden Carp, Clockwork Fish |
There is no required order for hunting legendary animals after defeating Black Fang, but the following approach will give you the most useful rewards earliest while saving the hardest targets for when you are better geared.
Black Fang (required first): Unlocks the map markers and grants Shadow Claw, which makes every subsequent fight easier.
Legendary Horses: Tame Royler, Rokade, and Camora early. Having a legendary mount dramatically speeds up travel to other legendary animal locations. Start with Rokade since its location has no environmental hazards.
Silver Fang: Head to the cave south of Pailune after defeating Black Fang. The Silver Fang Helmet's wolf disguise is both useful and distinctive.
Pailune Predators: Head north to hunt the White Bear and White Lion. The White Lion Necklace is excellent for offensive builds. The White Bear Helm provides a bear disguise. Be aware that the White Lion area is high-level, but you can use the cliff kill trick to finish it quickly.
Demeniss Jungle Cluster: The White Scaled Crocodile, White Tiger, and Red River Hog are all relatively close together in the Demeniss area. You can clear this in a single trip. The Pale Predator's Leather Gloves with their movement speed bonus are particularly valuable.
Skevald: Pick up the bounty notice in Tommaso and take on the Carrion King when you feel ready. This is one of the harder fights due to the two health bars and poison mechanics. Bring fire and plenty of healing.
Herbivores: Clean up the herbivores (deer, bison, moose, elk) whenever convenient. Their cosmetic rewards are nice house decorations but not urgent for combat progression.
Legendary Fish: Catch the five legendary fish once you have the Pororin Fishing Rod.
Phoenix: Save this for last. The Phoenix appears to be immortal and is likely quest-locked, so it may not be defeatable until a specific quest is discovered.
Use Leebur's Soul immediately: There is no reason to hold onto it. Consuming it instantly reveals every legendary animal on the map, and the markers are permanent.
Socket Shadow Claw right away: Visit a Witch vendor to socket Shadow Claw into your primary weapon. The extra 3 hits per attack will significantly speed up every subsequent legendary animal fight.
Bring fire charged arrows: Fire charged arrows knock most legendary animals over in a single shot. Keep a large stock of them on hand before heading out on a hunting run.
Track herbivores by season: The Vine Deer's antler flowers change with the in-game season. If you are having trouble spotting it, note the current season and look for the corresponding flower type.
Carry fire skills at all times: Flame Strike or any fire-based ability trivializes most legendary animal encounters. The hard crowd-control effect (rolling on the ground) gives you free damage on every proc.
Check quest locks: The Black Lion and Phoenix are quest-locked. If you cannot find them at their marked locations, check your quest progress for House Celeste and other questlines.
Check the Knowledge tab: After reading Sighting Documents or defeating legendary animals, your Knowledge menu under Creatures, then Legendary Creatures, will track which ones you have found. Use this to confirm your progress toward the full set of 24.
Use the cliff kill on White Lion: If you are struggling with the White Lion's large health pool, position the fight near a cliff edge and knock it off for an instant kill.
Patch 1.04 also added a new cat-like companion alongside the Phoenix: the , a small dark-furred abyss creature with a curled coat and distinctive markings. It is not a legendary animal in the traditional sense (there is no hunt, no sighting document, and it is not part of the 24-creature completion set), but it is a new unique pet introduced in the same update and worth grouping with the Phoenix for anyone collecting all of the new companions.
The Heuklang sleeps in the , the first abyss the player visits during the main story. This is the sky island that sits above Hernand and is the introductory abyss encounter, so almost every player has already been there by the time they start hunting legendary animals. From the island's fast-travel point, run straight towards the library tower in the center of the area. Do not enter the building: instead, look to the right of the entrance, near the energy pylon on that side. The Heuklang is curled up asleep on top of one of the short pillars in that small cluster.
Unlike most tameable creatures in Pywel, the Heuklang does not require trust building. Climb up onto the pillar, face the sleeping cat, and use the Take In prompt directly. It becomes your pet immediately with no food, no stealth approach, and no reload loop required.
If the direct Take In prompt does not appear (a small number of players have reported the game gating the immediate tame behind patch timing or save-state quirks), fall back to the standard cat method: offer a . A single golden carp fills the Heuklang's trust meter to 100 in one bite, after which the Take In prompt becomes available. Golden carp can be pulled from the small pond just south of the Pea Ladder in Pailune, or caught with any rod in the lakes around Pailune and the coastal regions.
The Heuklang behaves like the other cat pets in the game: it rides on your shoulder when summoned, hops down to pick up loot within its aggro range, and scales with any accessory in the new pet accessory slot. It is currently the only abyss-themed cat in the game and is widely considered the most visually distinctive of the available cats thanks to its long curled fur and the faint glow in its markings.
Pet armor and outfits designed for regular cats do not always fit the Heuklang correctly at launch of 1.04 due to its unique model. If a cat helmet or coat clips through the Heuklang's fur, switch it off in the pet equipment menu until Pearl Abyss expands the cat-wear compatibility pass.
Patch 1.04 introduced three selectable difficulty modes (Easy, Normal, and Hard) via the gameplay options menu. This is the first time the legendary animal set can be hunted under something other than the launch difficulty, and the effect on these encounters is significant enough that it is worth planning which mode you hunt on before committing to a session. See the page for the full per-mode breakdown; the points below are the changes that matter specifically for legendary animal fights.
Easy mode reduces every metric that makes legendary animals frustrating. Incoming damage from the creatures is lowered, their health pools shrink, and their aggression and move speed are throttled. Parry and dodge windows are widened, which matters for the melee-heavy fights like Black Fang and Skevald. The bosses also stop attempting to counter-attack or escape when hit, so stun-combos flow uninterrupted and flurries land their full rotation. For players who only care about the cosmetic rewards, completing the set on easy is a reasonable route.
Normal mode is the launch difficulty. Every strategy in the rest of this guide assumes normal: the combat tips, the recommended skill loadouts, and the reward rotations are all tuned for it. If you have been hunting legendary animals since launch without touching the menu, you are already on normal.
Hard mode is a noticeable step up for this content in particular. Legendary animals take more hits to bring down, hit harder on each connecting attack, and move and aggro faster. The parry and dodge windows are tightened, and roll invincibility frames are shorter, so spam-rolling through a charging Black Fang or a lunging White Lion is no longer safe. The frequency of boss counter-attacks and escape attempts is also raised, which matters most for the two-phase fights: Black Fang's second-phase combo window shrinks, and Skevald tries to disengage more often, making his poison pool positioning harder to pin down.
The single biggest practical change on hard is the food-healing animation. Food effects no longer apply the instant you press use; the eat animation must complete before the healing lands. Pocket-healing through an incoming attack is gone, and trying it against an aggressive legendary animal will get you combo-killed. Pre-eat before the attack comes, or switch to ranged positioning where you can open a window safely.
For the Phoenix specifically, hard mode raises its health pool further and makes its flight speed harder to track after the first damaged shot, so two-attempt takedowns become the norm rather than the exception. Stack and Frost imbuement together on hard, and do not be afraid to reload the zone if it flees before the skinning step.
Weapon reinforcement values from grindstones and anvils also scale down on hard, which indirectly reduces your DPS against the legendary animals with the largest health pools (White Lion, Skevald, Phoenix, Black Fang phase two). If a legendary fight feels impossible on hard, check that your gear reinforcement and abyss gear rolls are current before assuming the encounter itself is broken.
Legendary Horses - Detailed guide to Royler, Rokade, and Camora with full stats and taming tips
Black Fang - Boss guide for the legendary wolf encounter
Abyss Gears - How abyss gears work, including socketing and upgrading
Hunting Challenges - All hunting challenges and their rewards
Fishing - Complete fishing guide including legendary fish locations
House Celeste Quests - Full questline including the Legendary Wolf quest
Faction Quests - Overview of all faction quest chains
Mounts - All mounts and vehicles in Crimson Desert
Housing - Player house decoration and furniture system
Creatures and Wildlife - General guide to the wildlife of Pywel
The Hasteless mission line that gates the Black Lion encounter awards the White Lion Necklace on completion. The necklace is a strong offensive accessory that grants bonuses to both attack power and critical hit rate, making the questline a high-value run for builds that lean on combo damage and bow burst windows. The necklace drops on the final quest beat, not on the Black Lion kill itself, so the fight is only one step in the broader chain.
The Black Lion itself is treated as a standard legendary kill and cannot be tamed. The community-confirmed taming methods that work on regular lions through Force Palm do not function on the Black Lion: the boss does not register the subdual stagger threshold, and the Ride prompt never appears. Skin the Black Lion for the equipment drop as you would any other legendary predator.
The standard lions in the Black Lion's pack are a different story. Players running the questline through Patch 1.07.00 report that the pack lions accept the same force-palm-on-the-male flow used at the Vernia White Lion site. The lionesses cannot be tamed and must be killed off first; isolate the mane-bearing male, spam Force Palm until the Ride prompt appears, then feed meat from the saddle until trust hits 100. The full taming loop is detailed on the Lion page, and the trust-loop mechanics are shared with other big-cat tames in the Legendary Mounts Guide.
Practical note: the Black Lion encounter is staged inside a small clearing with cliff edges on two sides. Lock the pack inside the clearing and finish the females first, then kite the male away from the cliff lines before committing to the Force Palm chain. A third-hit knockback near the edge can send the male off a cliff and force a respawn wait, the same hazard that the Vernia pride imposes.
The 1.06.00 Special Mounts system added a notable cross-reference between the legendary big cat fights and the permanent-mount taming flow. At both the legendary White Lion and legendary White Tiger sites, defeating the legendary opens a path to a regular pack of tameable big cats nearby. The result is a single trip to one of these locations giving the player both the legendary drop and the chance to take a permanent Lion or Tiger mount on the same save.
After defeating the White Lion in the far northeast of the Crimson Desert region near Vernia, a regular pride of lions (one mane-bearing alpha plus several lionesses) begins to spawn at the same location after a few in-game days pass. The alpha is tameable through the Special Mounts trust loop; the lionesses are untameable and must be killed or kited away. Bring a low-attack tool such as a Bamboo Spear to subdue the alpha without killing it. See Lion for the full taming flow.
The White Tiger site northeast of Demeniss near Serpent Head Valley follows the same pattern, with one important caveat: on saves where the legendary has already been defeated, regular tigers may not respawn correctly. The community has reported this as a respawn bug rather than intended behaviour, because the lion equivalent does respawn after the legendary kill. Pearl Abyss is expected to patch the inconsistency, but as of patch 1.07.00 the bug is still active. On a save where the legendary tiger is still alive, you can engage regular tigers from the same pack for the permanent-mount tame, but you cannot subdue the legendary itself; the legendary remains kill-only.
See Tiger for the full taming flow, including the bamboo stalk subdual method that prevents accidental kills.
Players who want both the legendary drops and a permanent mount of the same species should plan the visit accordingly. For lions, defeat the legendary first, then return after several in-game days for the tame. For tigers, the safer route (until the respawn bug is patched) is to keep the legendary alive on the save you intend to use for the tame, run the pack for the tame, and only kill the legendary on a separate save or after the patch lands.
