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Overview

The raptor is one of the 29 mount types available in Crimson Desert. It is a bipedal, dinosaur-like predatory creature that serves as the fastest land combat mount in the game's roster. Three distinct raptor variants exist: the Sand Raptor, the Frost Raptor, and the Delesyian Swift. Each one is obtained through a different method, ranging from open-world taming to quest rewards to direct purchase from a vendor.

While horses are the default transportation and bears function as combat-ready brawler mounts, the raptor fills the niche of fast, agile overland traversal. The dragon and War Robot provide heavy firepower with time-limited access, but the raptor is ground-based and built for sustained speed across open terrain. The raptor's bipedal stance and predatory build distinguish it from the game's four-legged mounts like horses, bears, and wolves. Its appearance fits the archetype of a large theropod dinosaur, with a velociraptor-style silhouette that is immediately recognizable.

Raptor Variants

Crimson Desert features three raptor variants, each with different stats, acquisition methods, and associated biomes. All three share the same general combat behavior and riding controls but differ in where they are found and how the player unlocks them.

The Sand Raptor has the highest confirmed Speed stat among the three variants at 90, making it competitive with the fastest horses in the game. The Delesyian Swift trades some of that top-end speed (85) for easier acquisition, since it can simply be bought rather than tamed. The Frost Raptor's exact stats have not been confirmed, but it is earned through a dedicated quest line rather than taming or purchase.

Role as the Speed Mount

Among the mount types, the raptor is specifically characterized as the speed option. A combat deep dive by gaming outlet GuruGamer described the mount roster as: "basic horses for charges, grizzly bears for claw mauls (rideable and combat-ready), raptors for speed, fire-breathing dragons, and Titanfall-inspired mechs with missiles, guns, and EMPs." This positions the raptor as the fastest ground mount, ideal for covering long distances quickly across open terrain.

With the Sand Raptor's Speed stat of 90, raptors compete seriously with the fastest horses for pure mobility. For comparison, legendary horses like Rokade, Royler, and Camora are often considered the top-tier permanent mounts, but raptors can match or exceed their speed in raw overland traversal. The raptor sits right between speed and combat efficiency, offering flexibility that pure speed mounts like horses cannot provide in hostile territory.

Connection to the Desert Biome

The raptor is strongly associated with the Crimson Desert region, the game's namesake biome. This southern expanse of Pywel is described as a lawless stretch of arid red sand featuring extreme temperatures (up to 50 degrees Celsius displayed on the HUD), towering sand dunes, exposed rock formations, dust storms, heat haze, and deep canyons with cave systems. The Sand Raptor in particular spawns in the Red Dunes hunting grounds within this biome.

The terrain is home to hostile desert creatures including scorpion-like enemies and sand-burrowing predators. The raptor's speed makes it well-suited to traversing these vast, open desert landscapes, where distance between points of interest can be significant and encounters with hostile wildlife are frequent. Raptors found in the wild are sometimes ridden by hostile NPCs, and players can use the grapple mechanic to yank an enemy off their raptor and commandeer it on the spot.

Mount Comparison

Mount Combat System

All mounts in Crimson Desert have their own attributes and participate actively in combat. Mounts have their own movement speed, health points, and attacks that can be leveraged during encounters. They are described as "a core part of the combat loop" with different mount types offering specific combat abilities. When riding, Kliff can add his own weapon strikes while the mount performs its own attacks independently.

Raptors are specifically described as the fastest land combat mount, ideal for hit-and-run tactics. During mounted combat, Kliff attacks while the raptor dashes in and out of engagement range, allowing the player to strike enemies and then reposition before taking damage. This contrasts with the bear mount, which excels at sustained direct combat with claw swipes and body slams but moves slowly, and the wolf, which uses agile flanking maneuvers.

All three land combat mounts (bear, wolf, and raptor) become substantially more powerful when the rider applies elemental infusions to weapon attacks. Combining elemental damage with the raptor's hit-and-run rhythm can deal significant burst damage to enemies before they have a chance to retaliate. This makes the raptor particularly effective against slower, high-health enemies where sustained engagement would be risky.

How to Obtain a Raptor

There are three ways to acquire a raptor mount, depending on the variant:

Taming (Sand Raptor)

The Sand Raptor is tamed in the wild using the same counter-input mini-game mechanic that applies to horses and other tameable creatures. The player must approach a wild raptor, mount it, and then counter each of its movements by pushing the control stick in the opposite direction (or pressing the opposite directional key on keyboard). A meter fills as the player successfully counters, and hesitation or incorrect inputs cause the raptor to buck the player off.

Sand Raptors can be found in the Red Dunes hunting grounds within the Crimson Desert region. Wild raptors can also be encountered when hostile NPCs are riding them; using the grapple mechanic to pull the rider off allows the player to commandeer the raptor immediately without going through the full taming sequence.

Quest Reward (Frost Raptor)

The Frost Raptor is earned as a reward from completing a hunter quest chain. Unlike the Sand Raptor, it does not need to be found and tamed in the open world. The specific quest line and its requirements have not been fully documented by the community at launch, but it involves a series of hunting-related objectives.

Vendor Purchase (Delesyian Swift)

The Delesyian Swift can be purchased directly from a beast handler vendor in settlements. This is the most straightforward way to get a raptor, since it requires no taming skill and no quest completion. The trade-off is that the Delesyian Swift has a slightly lower Speed stat (85) compared to the Sand Raptor (90).

Temporary Mount Controversy

At launch, the Crimson Desert community raised significant concerns about mount permanence. Only horses can be permanently tamed, registered at stables, and summoned at will. Non-horse mounts, including raptors, bears, and wolves, function as temporary mounts in their basic wild-tamed state. When a player dismounts a wild-tamed raptor, the creature reverts to a hostile state and cannot be re-ridden without going through the taming process again.

This caused frustration among players who expected all 29 mounts to be permanent based on pre-release trailers that showed various creatures equipped with saddles. Multiple community threads on Reddit and Steam accumulated thousands of upvotes requesting that Pearl Abyss expand the system to allow permanent ownership of non-horse mounts, with suggestions including stable registration for exotic mounts, special quest lines to unlock permanent access, and reworked taming mechanics.

It is worth noting that the Frost Raptor (quest reward) and Delesyian Swift (vendor purchase) may have different permanence rules compared to wild-tamed raptors, since they are acquired through structured game systems rather than ad-hoc field taming. The exact permanence behavior of each variant continues to be documented by the community.

Mount Stats

Every mount in Crimson Desert tracks six core attributes: Speed, Stamina, Strength, Health, Attack, and Defense. Wild mounts generate randomized stats when tamed, so two raptors found in the same area can feel quite different. Mount gear can be equipped to boost Health, Stamina, Defense, and other attributes beyond their base values.

Mount Progression and Trust

Mounts in Crimson Desert level up through three core interactions: riding, petting, and feeding. As a mount gains experience, it progresses through trust levels from 1 to 5, unlocking new skills at each stage. Higher trust levels also improve the mount's responsiveness and make it less likely to panic during combat encounters.

• Riding grants passive experience over time. The more distance covered on a raptor, the faster it levels.

• Petting provides a trust boost with a daily cap. Each petting action increases trust by a fixed amount, and the player can pet a mount multiple times per in-game day.

• Feeding offers variable trust rewards depending on the food item used. Higher-quality food items yield more trust per feeding, and feeding also has a daily limit.

Mount gear can be found throughout Pywel and equipped to improve a raptor's base stats. Gear pieces for mounts function similarly to armor for the player character, providing boosts to Health, Stamina, Defense, and other attributes. The horse is confirmed to have three gear slots (head, body, and saddle/stirrups), and other mounts including raptors are expected to follow a similar customization structure.

Mount Customization

Players can customize the color scheme of their rideable mounts. The horse has three armor pieces (head, body, and saddle/stirrups) that can be individually dyed, and similar customization options extend to other mounts. Whether the raptor has the same number of customizable armor pieces as the horse has not been fully confirmed, but the dye system applies across mount types.

Tips for Riding Raptors

• Use hit-and-run tactics in combat. The raptor's strength is speed, not durability. Dash into a group of enemies, land a few strikes with Kliff's weapon while the raptor attacks independently, then pull out before taking heavy damage.

• Apply elemental infusions before engaging. All land combat mounts benefit from elemental weapon infusions, and the raptor's quick engagement cycles let you apply burst elemental damage repeatedly.

• Prefer raptors for long desert crossings. The Crimson Desert biome is vast and open with limited fast travel options. A raptor's high Speed stat makes it the ideal choice for covering ground in this region.

• Grapple enemy riders for a free raptor. If you encounter hostile NPCs riding raptors, use the grapple mechanic to pull the rider off. This gives you immediate access to a raptor without the taming mini-game.

• Buy a Delesyian Swift early if you want a raptor quickly. The beast handler vendor sells the Delesyian Swift outright, so you do not need to travel to the desert or complete a quest chain. The Speed 85 stat is slightly lower than the Sand Raptor's 90 but still faster than most horses.

• Invest in mount gear. Equipping gear that boosts Health and Defense compensates for the raptor's lower durability compared to bears, making it viable for longer engagements.

• Keep food in your inventory. Feeding your raptor builds trust and keeps it in good condition. Higher trust means better responsiveness and access to higher-level mount skills.

Trailer Appearances

Raptor riding footage appears in the Features Overview #2: Combat and Progression trailer released in February 2026. The bear mount was the most prominently featured non-horse mount in that video, with the raptor appearing more briefly. Gaming outlet CultureCrave highlighted the footage by noting: "You can ride a dragon, bear, raptor, or pilot a mecha." The raptor has also been referenced in several written previews and feature summaries as one of the confirmed mount types.