Crimson Desert‘s mounts have been a point of contention for fans, late game Dragon mounts included. That’s because many of the creature mounts in-game are not permanent and cannot be stabled, and while the highly-coveted Blackstar Dragon mount is a permanent addition, you’re limited in when you can use it.
A slightly strange decision that has disgruntled some, to say the least. If you’re curious to know more about the finer details of the dragon mounts and when you can use them, here’s Crimson Desert’s Dragon mounts explained, including how to unlock the Blackstar Dragon mount.
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Crimson Desert Dragon Mounts explained
Before we get too ahead of ourselves, there are a few things to note about Crimson Desert’s dragon mounts. First things first, the dragon mount named in the game’s story – the Blackstar Dragon mount – is not the only dragon mount you can unlock.
While you’ll receive the Blackstar Dragon mount as you progress with Crimson Desert’s campaign, there are other dragons that can be found, carefully approached, and temporarily mounted. They’re rare though!
With that out of the way, here’s how to unlock the Blackstar Dragon mount in Crimson Desert.
How to unlock the Blackstar Dragon Mount in Crimson Desert
You will unlock the Blackstar Dragon mount in the Abyss during Chapter 11 of Crimson Desert’s story, meaning you likely won’t be getting your hands on a dragon mount until you are approaching the end of the game. This makes sense given just how powerful and destructive these mounts can be!
During this portion of the story, you’ll need to complete a boss fight that concludes with you finally unlocking the ability to summon the Blackstar Dragon mount whenever you please.
The Blackstar Dragon is a permanent addition once you unlock it as opposed to other creature mounts in-game such as the dire wolf, but there’s still some caveats that we’ll explain below.
How to summon the Blackstar Dragon Mount in Crimson Desert
Once you have unlocked the Blackstar Dragon, you can summon it in the exact same way that you would otherwise summon a horse or alternative mount. That’s by pressing ‘down’ on the D-pad on consoles or ‘H’ on PC, and then selecting the mount you want.
Now, actually mounting the dragon once it has been summoned is a bit of an issue in and of itself right now. Typically, you’d summon your mount, interact with it to mount it, and off you go, but Crimson Desert isn’t that straight-forward and it’s incredibly difficult to actually press the mount button. If you do manage to press it, many players have reported simply being thrown straight off their dragon (sometimes to their death).
IGN has recommended that to consistently mount the Blackstar Dragon with some degree of success, you should travel to the Abyss – above Pywel – and dive off the cliff there. Once you’re still airborne but no longer classed as being in the Abyss, summon your Blackstar Dragon and they’ll collect you, automatically allowing you to mount them in the process. Hopefully, updates will soon follow that fix just how troublesome mounting dragons is.
How to ride Dragon Mounts in Crimson Desert
After mounting your Blackstar Dragon (or any dragon for that matter) in Crimson Desert, things are finally much simpler. You may use your dragon to fly around the surrounding areas and clear out camps using their abilities, but they do have a health bar to be conscious of!
On top of that, and a topic that has ruffled some feathers, is that the Blackstar Dragon mount can only be summoned for 15 minutes at a time.
After that (or following your Blackstar Dragon’s health being reduced to 0), there’s a 50 minute cooldown period that players must wait for before they’re able to summon the creature again. This cannot be sped up by resting in-game and relies on real-time, so if you’ve any quests involving the mount, you’ll need to wait – almost an hour! – to go about completing them. Bear this in mind.
This has been disappointing to many because the Blackstar Dragon mount was a part of developer Pearl Abyss’ marketing for Crimson Desert (see the launch trailer and the release date trailer) that players have grown very excited for, with players anticipating the mount would be a permanent unlock they’d be able to freely use to roam the world.
That said, given how powerful this mount is and its capabilities of clearing POIs, it does make some sense that the mount would have limits in place. Though, it’s no doubt only a matter of time before modders take the issue into their own hands, assuming Pearl Abyss itself does not make any changes to the Blackstar Dragon mount.
For more on Crimson Desert, take a look at how to fast travel, how to steal and pickpocket, and how to upgrade your weapons and armor.
