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The world of Crimson Desert takes place on the continent of Pywel, a vast and varied landmass featuring mountains, forests, deserts, frozen tundra, coastal regions, and floating sky islands. The map is estimated at approximately 90 square kilometers of explorable terrain. At least twice the size of Skyrim and larger than Red Dead Redemption 2. Pywel is divided into five distinct regions, each with its own climate, culture, political structure, and dangers. Players explore the world as Kliff, leader of the Greymanes mercenary band, in a non-linear open world where regions can be visited in any order.
The open world of Crimson Desert spans the entire continent of Pywel, a seamless landmass with no loading screens between areas. Will Powers, Director of Marketing and PR at Pearl Abyss, confirmed that the map is "at least twice as big as Skyrim" and "larger than Red Dead Redemption 2." Powers added: "I don't think numbers really do it justice." The world also extends vertically into the Abyss, a realm of floating sky islands that adds additional explorable space above the main continent.
Game | Comparison | |
|---|---|---|
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Approximately 37 sq km | Crimson Desert is roughly double |
Red Dead Redemption 2 | Approximately 70-75 sq km | Crimson Desert is larger |
Approximately 90 sq km | Plus vertical Abyss sky islands |
These estimates are based on community analysis and Pearl Abyss's public statements. The actual explorable area may be larger because the Abyss sky islands add vertical exploration space not captured in surface area measurements.
Region | Climate | Description |
|---|---|---|
Snowy mountains and frozen tundra | The northernmost region and original homeland of the Greymanes. A harsh mountainous highland region of snow-covered peaks, frozen passes, and hardy settlements. The homeland of the Greymanes. After the Black Bears scattered the Greymanes, the surviving members fled south and rebuilt in Hernand. | |
Temperate | The starting region where Kliff's adventure begins. Mountains, rivers, cliffside cities, and vibrant markets. The Greymane Camp is located here, growing from a small tent settlement into a fortified base. Features large cities with daily NPC life cycles. | |
Regal plains | The center of political and military power. Features imposing castles and serves as the political hub of Pywel. Heavily guarded territories with faction-controlled areas. | |
Varied | At the forefront of science and technology. The most technologically advanced region on the continent, with unique machinery and experimental structures. | |
Arid desert | The namesake region. A vast expanse of red sands and lawlessness. Towering ridges, barren wastelands, and dangerous bandits. The harshest environment on Pywel. |
Territory | Description |
|---|---|
Inhospitably cold lands, also called "the land of the wolf." Contains the settlement of Ulsrund. Harsh winter conditions year-round. | |
Characterized by vast open plains. Large-scale mounted combat encounters occur here. | |
A stronghold centered around the Eldertree, where "ancient power awaits." Likely tied to deep lore and endgame content. | |
Floating sky islands above the surface. Fragments rain down onto the world below. Accessible only through late-game aerial traversal. |
Location | Region | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Hernand city | Major city with markets, taverns, quest givers, and NPC daily routines | |
Greymanes Camp | Player-built base. Starts as tents, expands through resource gathering | |
Snow-covered peak with harsh conditions and environmental hazards | ||
Varies | Landmark tied to the main questline | |
Lore-rich location with knowledge and quest content | ||
Goldleaf Camp | Varies | Faction camp connected to story missions |
Hernand is the starting region and the most content-dense area in the game. A lush region full of grasslands, plains, and dense forests, Hernand features the City of Hernand as its major settlement, along with numerous villages, ranches, and outposts. The Greymane Camp is established here early in the story, making it the player's primary home base throughout the game.
Hernand is home to the largest concentration of faction quests, including questlines for House Celeste, House Roberts, House Serkis, and the Goldleaf Merchant Guild. The region's mild climate supports farming, ranching, and foraging, making it ideal for crafting material gathering. The Pororin Forest Guardians, a faction of the Shai people, protect the hidden village of Pororin in the dense forests south of Hernand.
Pailune is the northernmost region and the original homeland of the Greymanes. Located on the northern side of Pywel, it features harsh terrain with snowy peaks, frozen tundra, and hard-to-cross mountainous areas. After the Black Bears scattered the Greymanes, Pailune fell under their control. The region becomes a key story battleground during Chapters 6 and 7 as Kliff works to reclaim the Greymanes' homeland.
Demeniss is the capital of Pywel and the main seat of political and military power. The region features imposing castles, ancient temples, regal architecture, and heavily guarded territories. It serves as the political hub of the continent, with faction-controlled areas that require careful diplomacy or force to access. The region is steeped in ancient magic and history, with deeper lore connections to the Abyss.
Delesyia is the most technologically and scientifically advanced region on the continent. Players will find a plethora of mechanical beings, robots, and otherworldly creatures alongside sophisticated cities and exotic markets. Delesyia serves as a commerce and trade hub with an active criminal underworld.
The Crimson Desert is the namesake region: a barren desert with crimson-colored sand. The region is completely lawless, with no central government and home to all types of brigands and dangerous creatures. Towering ridges, barren wastelands, and extreme heat make it the harshest environment on Pywel. Sandstorms reduce visibility and can reveal (or conceal) buried structures and colossal creatures beneath the sand.
Above the surface of Pywel lies the Abyss, a realm of floating islands accessible through portals on the surface. Fragments of the Abyss rain down onto Pywel, and players use puzzle-solving mechanics to align these fragments and reach new areas. The sky islands contain Abyss Dungeons with environmental puzzles, unique enemies, and Abyss Artifact rewards. Hot air balloons and specific story events provide access to certain Abyss locations.
The sky islands exist on a separate map layer that can be toggled on the world map screen. On a controller, press R3 to switch between the ground map and the sky map. On keyboard and mouse, use the Mouse Wheel to toggle layers. The sky map displays the floating puzzle islands above each region, similar in concept to the sky layer in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom but smaller and more contained in scope.
Players who unlock fast travel points on the sky islands (earned through Abyss Restoration challenges) can use a skydiving mechanic to dive from those elevated fast travel nodes directly down to ground-level destinations. This provides a dramatic and efficient way to return to the surface without needing to glide or backtrack on foot.
Pywel emphasizes both horizontal and vertical exploration. Multiple traversal methods are available:
Pearl Abyss has stated it takes roughly two hours to cross the entire map on horseback. This assumes a straight-line path at a steady gallop without stops. In practice, the terrain variation and density of discoverable content mean most players take significantly longer.
Traversal Method | Description |
|---|---|
Summoned via D-Pad; stamina-governed gallop. The primary traversal method across open terrain. | |
Bears, raptors, camels, elephants, and other tameable creatures, each with different speed and terrain suitability. | |
Fire-breathing aerial mount for long-distance flight and aerial combat. | |
Battle Mech | War Robot with jet propulsion and missile armaments for heavy combat traversal. |
Glider for controlled descent from high elevations. Unlocked through story progression. | |
Physics-based rope swinging for reaching elevated areas and crossing gaps. | |
Slow, scenic aerial traversal for surveying the landscape from above. | |
Wagons and Skiffs | Ground and water vehicles for transporting goods or traveling along rivers. |
Free Climbing | Climb virtually any surface: rocks, mountains, walls, trees, and even giant creatures. |
Swimming | Surface-level swimming across rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. |
Traversal flows seamlessly between modes. A player can fly on a wyvern, transition to gliding downward, and land directly on a moving horse without interruption.
Non-linear progression: Regions can be explored in any order. If an area is too difficult, leave and return later when stronger
Dynamic world changes: Liberating regions from hostile factions causes visible changes. Residents return, structures rebuild, new vendors and services appear
Blockaded areas: Some territories are blocked by factions until story progression or faction standing improves
Day-night cycle: Influences NPC availability, enemy spawns, and environmental hazards. Some content is only accessible at night
Weather system: Dynamic weather affects visibility, combat effectiveness, and NPC behavior
Environmental puzzles: Manipulating mechanisms, platforming, using swords to move structures, and unlocking hidden pathways
Hidden content: Ritual grounds, crypts with treasure maps, poison mist shrouds concealing secrets, and unmarked cave systems
Fixed difficulty zones: Enemies have set, non-scaling power levels. Each region is tuned to specific difficulty tiers, so early areas become easier as you gear up while later zones hit significantly harder
The world map uses a fog of war system that reveals terrain only as the player explores. Regions and landmarks remain hidden until physically visited. Some hidden corners and secret areas are not visible even from aerial views during gliding, encouraging thorough ground-level exploration.
The world map uses a fog of war system that reveals terrain only as the player explores. Regions and landmarks remain hidden until physically visited. The fastest method to unfog the entire map is by ringing the 8 Hidden Bells scattered across Pywel as part of the Toll of Pywel quest.
Each bell is located in a bell tower within a major city or settlement. Ringing a bell summons a Shai child who magically clears the fog of war for the surrounding region. Once all 8 bells are rung, the entire continental map is revealed. The bells are not marked on the map and must be discovered through exploration. Some bells require puzzle-solving or specific traversal techniques to reach.
The 8 bell locations are: Hernand City (Church of Calphade), Scholastone Institute (garden pagoda), Calphade (church), Demeniss Capital (tallest Church of Calphade), Delesyia Town (town square), Tommaso (Tashkalp subregion, Crimson Desert region), Varnia (far north, palace dome), and Pailune (red tower near docks, only available after Chapter 7 liberation). The Calphade bell is temporarily unavailable during Chapter 6. See the Bell Locations article for detailed directions.
Alternatively, the Explorer perk in the Scholarship branch of the skill tree removes all fog of war from the map and reveals all points of interest. However, this is a late-game investment. Ringing bells is the recommended early approach.
The primary fast travel system in Crimson Desert uses Abyss Nexus points: glowing blue markers activated by stepping on pressure plates found at key locations across Pywel. Once activated, an Abyss Nexus can be teleported to from the world map at any time. There are 47 Abyss Nexus fast travel points spread across all five regions of the continent.
Region | |
|---|---|
11 | |
10 | |
6 | |
6 | |
13 | |
Total | 47 |
The Crimson Desert region has the highest concentration of fast travel nodes (13), which is fitting given the vast and featureless desert terrain where horseback travel would otherwise be slow. Hernand, the starting area, comes second with 12 points, giving new players plenty of mobility early on. It is recommended to ring the 8 Hidden Bells first to fully reveal the map before hunting down all 47 Abyss Nexus locations, as unfogged terrain makes spotting the pressure plates much easier.
The world features a persistent calendar system with timestamps displayed in the UI (e.g., "Day 107 Tue 5:29 PM") along with temperature readings. A dynamic weather system and day-night cycle affect NPC behavior, quest availability, and environmental hazards. NPCs follow daily routines: blacksmiths forge different items based on recent purchases, merchants open and close their shops on schedule, and townspeople react to time of day and weather conditions.
Pearl Abyss emphasized that map size alone was not the goal. Powers stated: "Open-world games are about doing things, having activities, having distractions. So we wanted to create a world that's not only massive, but is also incredibly interactive." The Knowledge System recorded 2,921 total entries during preview builds, spanning 573 territories, 467 people, 401 creatures, 110 factions, 76 bosses, 355 crafting manuals, and 29 mount types. A hands-on reviewer spent four hours in the starting region alone without exhausting its content.
While the map measures approximately 90 square kilometers (9,500m width by 9,500m height), the actual explorable area is closer to 100 square kilometers due to the multi-layered design. Pywel features extensive underground cave networks, multi-story dungeon complexes, and the vertical space of the Abyss sky islands. The surface map dimensions do not capture this additional explorable volume.
The underground portion of the map is substantial. According to PowerPyx's measurements, Pywel contains over 100 caves and other subterranean locations, ranging from small one-room hideouts to sprawling multi-level dungeon complexes. These underground areas contribute significantly to the total explorable space, pushing the effective map size from 90 square kilometers of surface area to approximately 100 square kilometers when all layers are combined.
The entire world is fully seamless, with no loading screens between regions, cities, interiors, or the Abyss. Players can walk, ride, climb, glide, or fly from any point to any other point without interruption. Crossing the entire continent on horseback takes approximately two hours at a steady gallop without stops.
Scattered across Pywel you will find:
Towns and villages: Trade hubs with shops, taverns, and quest givers
Ruins and crypts: Contain treasure maps, rare loot, and lore fragments
Shrines: Provide blessings and fast travel nodes
Robber camps: Hostile encampments that can be cleared for rewards and regional reputation
Taverns: Social hubs where you can gather information, play table games, arm wrestle, and recruit companions
Fishing spots: Marked locations along rivers and coastlines
Several interconnected systems enhance the open world experience. For detailed information, see their dedicated articles:
Greymane Camp: Kliff rebuilds a mercenary base at Howling Hill, unlocking buildings, services, and dispatch missions through resource gathering.
Life Skills: Fishing, farming, cooking, hunting, mining, logging, trading, arena fighting, and horse racing provide resources and camp supplies.
Wanted System: Criminal activities reduce your Hernandian Contribution reputation and can trigger bounties that make guards hostile.
The world is non-linear. If an area feels too tough, explore a different region and return later
Unlock fast travel nodes at shrines as you explore to make backtracking efficient
Invest in camp building early. Upgraded facilities provide permanent stat bonuses
The grappling hook + glide combo is the fastest traversal method before late-game unlocks
Night exploration reveals different content than daytime. Some quests and encounters are nocturnal only
Clear robber camps to improve regional reputation, which can unlock blockaded areas faster than story progression
Life skills provide essential resources for camp development. Do not skip them in favor of combat alone
