Weapon Display Options

Weapon Display Options is a settings feature added to Crimson Desert in Patch 1.03.00 released on April 11, 2026. It lets players choose how their equipped Weapons appear on the character model during exploration, combat, and cutscenes. The feature is purely cosmetic, with separate controls for melee and ranged display, and serves as the in-game precursor to the more comprehensive Hide Back Weapons option planned for a later update.

Overview

Crimson Desert encourages players to carry multiple weapons at once: a primary melee, a secondary, a bow, and depending on build, additional sidearms. By default, every weapon not currently in hand is rendered on the character's back, giving the protagonist a visibly armed silhouette even in quiet moments. Weapon Display Options gives the player two independent toggles to manage that silhouette, one for melee weapons and one for ranged weapons.

The feature is cosmetic only. It does not change damage, reload speed, weapon switching speed, stamina cost, or any other combat stat. It is strictly an appearance setting, available in the main options menu under the gameplay section introduced in 1.03.00.

Settings Details

The feature exposes two independent controls with two values each:

Melee: All or Selected Only. All shows every melee weapon equipped on the character, including the primary, secondary, and any additional melee sidearms, all rendered on the body or the back. Selected Only shows only the melee weapon currently chosen for use, hiding the rest until the player swaps to a different weapon slot.
Ranged: Always or Only When Used. Always keeps the equipped bow or ranged weapon visible on the character at all times, whether the player is swinging a melee weapon, riding, or standing still. Only When Used hides the ranged weapon during melee combat and exploration, then renders it briefly while the player draws, aims, and fires.

Both controls are independent, which gives four meaningful combinations. Players who want a clean silhouette during exploration but still care about showing every melee weapon in combat typically pick Selected Only and Only When Used. Players who want the default fully-armed look keep All and Always. Players who prefer a loadout-forward display with a minimal bow profile pick All and Only When Used, and so on.

Why It Matters

The default visual profile in the launch game reads as crowded to some players. Primary melee, secondary melee, and a bow on the same back plate can hide armor detail, obscure cloak flow, and fight with cutscene framing. Weapon Display Options gives a middle ground between the original armed-to-the-teeth look and the cleaner silhouette many players prefer for roleplay and screenshot purposes.

Photo mode users and content creators benefit most directly. A scenic shot of the protagonist overlooking a valley reads very differently with all weapons rendered versus only the selected one. The toggle gives these players an official way to achieve the cleaner look without trick camera angles or temporary inventory swaps.

For accessibility and visual clarity, the feature also reduces on-character clutter during combat. Players who find busy character rendering distracting during fast fights can trim the back weapon display down to what they are actually using, which can help them read their own silhouette and incoming hits more easily.

Relationship to Hide Back Weapons

Weapon Display Options is a partial solution that targets individual weapon categories. The Hide Back Weapons toggle announced for the April to June 2026 roadmap is the broader follow-up, expected to offer a single master switch that hides all back-mounted weapons together regardless of category. Until Hide Back Weapons ships, the 1.03.00 settings already cover most practical cases through the four combinations of melee and ranged toggles.

Players who want the cleanest possible silhouette today can set Melee to Selected Only and Ranged to Only When Used. That combination hides most extra weapons during exploration and cutscenes and only shows them when the player actually draws. When Hide Back Weapons launches, it will extend this pattern with a simpler single-toggle experience.

Where to Find the Setting

The Weapon Display options live in the main settings menu under the gameplay options introduced in 1.03.00. The same options page also hosts the Minimum Font Size accessibility option, the Fast Forward Speed up to 4x, and the camera customization controls for Visual Range, Vertical Offset, Horizontal Offset, Auto-follow, and Lookahead. Players on all supported platforms (Steam PC/Mac, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Epic Games Store, and Mac App Store) receive the feature as part of the Patch 1.03.00 update.

Patch 1.03.00 notes: https://crimsondesert.pearlabyss.com/en-us/News/Notice/Detail?_boardNo=81
Pearl Abyss Dev Update (Hide Back Weapons follow-up): https://crimsondesert.pearlabyss.com/en-US/News/Notice/Detail?_boardNo=82

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