Crimson Desert: How to Claim and Run Strongholds, Houses and Castles in Charting the Unknown

30-second quick start (TL;DR)

• Strongholds you own now show light blue on the map, and a new Facilities tab lists everything you can lease and every mission attached to it.
• You lease, you do not conquer. Liberating the region is the prerequisite; the lease itself is a map action after a notice appears in town.
• Four businesses: restaurant, sawmill, smithy, tailor. Staff them with comrades whose skills match, and face the workstations the right way or the workers stand idle.
• They run offline. Facilities keep producing while you are elsewhere, special guests may visit, and the management content has its own rewards.
• Recognition Level rises as the business runs and unlocks better recipes and craftables.
• Houses: Free Construction after Luke’s Request; 17 residences by dispatch; your spouse lives in the one you designate.
• Castles: Drakesfall and Flame Knight’s, both post-ending, courtyards and interiors decorable, exteriors fixed.

What this guide helps you do

“How do I claim a stronghold?” and “How do I get a house to build?” were among the first questions asked after the DLC went live, because the game drops a Facilities tab on the map without a tutorial for it. This guide explains how a liberated stronghold becomes a business you run, what the four facility types are and where the first ones are, how staffing and Recognition Level work, and how the new housing and the two castles fit around it.

It covers the A Richer Life in Pywel half of the DLC. For ships, islands and sea trade, see our ship guide. For marriage, see the romance and marriage guide.

Requirements and prep

Facilities sit on liberated Greymane strongholds, so the work you did in the base game is the prerequisite. Pearl Abyss’s feature overview says a facility becomes accessible “after you complete the faction quest for the relevant region and set up your Greymane Camp”. The camp is the one you found at Howling Hill in Chapter 3 and expand through the Greymane faction quests, which only progress while you play as Kliff.

Leasing and running a facility spends camp funds and comrades. Each business wants comrades with the matching skill and the right equipment, so look through your roster before you lease: a cook for the restaurant, a woodworker for the sawmill, a smith for the smithy, a tailor for the shop. Comrades sent to a facility are not available for dispatch or your ship’s crew at the same time.

The four facility types and where the first ones are

Rent and lease prices are not listed in the patch notes and vary by stronghold, so read the Facilities tab entry before you commit. Each facility has a level, and the Recognition Level you earn by operating it unlocks the better recipes and craftables.

Step-by-step: leasing and running your first business

Tick these off as you go. Your progress stays on this device.

1. 1Mark step 1 done

   Liberate the region and finish its faction quest

   The stronghold has to be yours. Owned strongholds now show light blue on the map, so you can see at a glance which regions qualify.

2. 2Mark step 2 done

   Watch for the purple lease notice

   It appears in town the same way bounty letters do. Read it and the facility is added to your map’s Facilities tab.

3. 3Mark step 3 done

   Open Map, Facilities, and press Lease

   The tab lists every facility, its level and its missions. Pay the lease from camp funds.

4. 4Mark step 4 done

   Assign comrades with the matching skill

   Pick comrades whose skill and equipment match the business. Mismatched staff produce slowly or not at all.

5. 5Mark step 5 done

   Place the workstations facing the right way

   Workers only use a station they can reach from the front. If production shows zero, rotate the stations and check again.

6. 6Mark step 6 done

   Choose products and an operating style

   Pick what the facility makes or sells. Higher Recognition Level unlocks the better options, so start simple and upgrade.

7. 7Mark step 7 done

   Leave it running

   Facilities operate while you are away. Come back for the rewards, check for special guests, and reinvest in the next lease.

Housing: Free Construction and the 17 residences

The expanded housing system lets you lay out your home yourself, placing walls, windows and other structural elements. It unlocks once you have the camp at Howling Hill and have finished Luke’s Request, a Greymane faction quest under Grounds of the Sunrise. Open Home Decoration, then Layout, then Free Construction. The old decoration mode still works for anyone who does not want to build.

The DLC also adds 17 residences across Pywel. Each is built through a dispatch mission, and the map shows which of Kliff, Oongka or Damiane owns each one. Once you marry, the residence you designate is where your spouse lives, so the house and the romance system are tied together. New placeable items include paths, trees, flowerbeds, puppy cushions and cat watchtowers, the last sold by a new Cat Watchtower Merchant.

The two castles

Pre-launch previews mentioned three castles. The launch notes list two, both behind the main story’s ending and both marked as spoilers in the notes themselves.

• Drakesfall Castle is awarded after completing Journey’s End and liberating its stronghold. Players report the trigger is a new faction quest in the top row of the Journal, and that Hernand is where it starts.
• Flame Knight’s Castle is awarded after completing Damiane’s post-ending quest Politician and liberating its stronghold.

You decorate the courtyard and the interior. The exterior is a fixed design, and rebuilding takes in-game time once you start it. Some PC players report a crash when fast-travelling to or approaching Drakesfall once it is built, with and without mods, so save before you head there and ride in from a distance rather than fast-travelling to the gate.

Troubleshooting and common mistakes

• Mistake: Looking for a “claim” prompt at the stronghold itself. Fix: It is a map action. Open the Facilities tab after the notice appears in town.
• Mistake: No lease notice anywhere. Fix: The region is not liberated, its faction quest is unfinished, or the camp is not set up. Owned strongholds are light blue; if yours is not, that is the gap.
• Mistake: Facility produces nothing. Fix: Staff with matching skills and rotate workstations so workers can reach them from the front.
• Mistake: Staffing a facility with your best dispatch comrades. Fix: They are tied up while assigned. Keep a few free for ships and security dispatches.
• Mistake: Reloading to collect payouts again. Fix: Players have found facility funds repeat on save and load. It is unacknowledged and likely to be patched; it also drains the fun out of the system.
• Mistake: Expecting Free Construction before Luke’s Request. Fix: The menu entry only appears after that faction quest with the camp at Howling Hill.
• Mistake: Fast-travelling straight to Drakesfall Castle on PC. Fix: Save first and approach on horseback; several players crash on arrival.

FAQ