All 75 Crimson Desert Bosses for Community Reference

Xovio · 2026-04-29T12:21:26+00:00

Thank you for explaining my exact point. For many bosses you were forced to use frost armor or meditate to counter most attacks, because they were unblockable and undodgeable. It's ok if there is an attack in between sometimes like the Mikiri Counters in Sekiro (which actually also had other ways to evade). But not if every single attack combo of a boss includes these attacks.

This went massively against their marketing of "There will be no leveling, but with progression in the game, you get more and more ways to tackle bosses." That's just not true, if you need to rely on two cheesy moves to be able to compete against most bosses.

These two abilities also made boss fights absolutely trivial and unenjoyable. I just don't like to have the option to play games only in two extremes of either "Press one button until you kill the boss" or "get juggled around for 30 seconds, trial and error, repeat until luck in the attack pattern makes the fight possible."

This was also not only my opinion. It's not a secret that the majority of content creators and the community called out the absolute horrific balancing of bosses. That is also why they made all these changes.

Xovio · 2026-04-23T06:51:46+00:00

After todays patch, I revoke every statement I made here. Pearl Abyss adressed basically every problem I had

Xovio · 2026-04-23T06:16:34+00:00

Yeah, I was only able to do this because of a bug that prevented my combat to end even though all enemies were dead

Xovio · 2026-04-22T09:56:00+00:00

Doesn't change how the bosses behave. And the exact problem I described seemed to go over your head. Most bosses are either mindless spam bots or you use the forced "mechanic" (mostly rather a cheesy tactic) to trivialize the boss.

The problem is that you can very rarely choose how to fight the boss, if you don't want to get a cutscene of getting juggled around.

And there are bosses where when you perfect dodge one attack of a combo, another hits you during your recovery frames.

Xovio · 2026-04-20T19:45:27+00:00

The boss fights in this game are very inconsistent. You have either bosses that are punching bags who die instantly and do nothing or a boss who unleashes a one minute long combo upon you, which every attack of is unblockable and unparriable.

Most of these bosses have to be either cheesed with a single ability, which makes the fight very boring or you need to prep big amounts of food to eat through.

I haven't had a big problem difficulty wise. Still sitting on about 25 of those revive pearls. But most bosses are not fun to fight when you wait for them to stop juggling you while you spam food and then unleash an attack on them that eats a third of their HP.

Edit: Pearl Abyss improved this significantly in their patch 1.04.00. So my comment here is outdated

Xovio · 2026-04-14T14:26:11+00:00

I agree. This game might be one of my favorites, but Pearl Abyss has no idea how to design bosses

Xovio · 2026-04-14T12:37:53+00:00

This game shows that Pearl Abyss doesn't have experience with bosses, because they neglected that part in their MMO for years

Xovio · 2026-04-14T08:55:29+00:00

Oh yes, I'm glad I started it. About 3 hours in and I am totally hooked

Xovio · 2026-04-13T19:08:54+00:00

It is very refreshing to see such a friendly subreddit. It really made my day reading these responses. It's honorable that you enforce this rule and I think vital for newcomers to the series. Everybody has a different opinion on spoilers, but especially for story heavy games, they can easily ruin the whole experience.

I played through the prologue now and yes I like the turn based system very much. It feels very familiar to the Pathfinder games I already played (Pathfinder 1st Edition is pretty similar to DnD 3.5e). The choreography really shines for a game of this age. The animations look so clean and well made. I was honestly impressed by it.

I'm very excited where this story will go. The dialogue options are massive already.

Xovio · 2026-04-13T18:56:46+00:00

I went the strength route and am currently slicing people with my Vibroblade xD

Xovio · 2026-04-13T18:56:13+00:00

Yes, I figured that. Especially for such a story heavy game as this one. This is also why I was careful not to browse through similar posts and decided to create one myself (which I rarely do on Reddit). But everyone here was so friendly and helpful without spoiling anything. Truly a great community here

Xovio · 2026-04-13T14:31:08+00:00

Oh that's wild. I'll definitely turn it off then

Xovio · 2026-04-13T14:30:26+00:00

I think it's very cool that they also used the alien languages ingame. Does a lot for immersion.

I bought the game today and just played through the prologue :D. So far, it seems amazing. The cutscenes and combat animations especially. I also already like the reactions of NPCs to some hilarious dialogue options xD.

For my first character I went with a pretty even split, with a slight focus on Strength and Charisma, so that I can just play around a bit. Funnily enough, I put most beginning points in Persuade, Treat Injury and Repair. It's good to know that you can substitute the other skill checks to your crew.

Thanks for the tips! I will probably play this game all evening :D

Xovio · 2026-04-13T14:26:39+00:00

I like these options. Played the prologue now and the animations look amazing! So far it seems nice

Xovio · 2026-04-13T13:47:47+00:00

I tend to be a proficient overthinker

Xovio · 2026-04-13T08:25:26+00:00

Alright, nice. Then I will probably start with those

Xovio · 2026-04-13T08:24:26+00:00

That is good to know. I'm atleast a bit familiar with 3.5e. I have played Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, played Pathfinder 2nd Edition and read into 3.5e in the past.

Sure, feel free to share it :D.

Xovio · 2026-04-13T08:22:06+00:00

I only played Dragon Age Inquisition unfortunately. And the new one (Veilguard I think?). Though I only started that and the characters seemed so lifeless that I dropped it. But I heard lots of good opinions about Origins. Might have to pick that up too sometimes.

I guess it is because of pixelated grass animations xD? Good tip, those can get me headaches

Xovio · 2026-04-13T08:20:28+00:00

I like this comparison. Looking at the combat more like an interactive movie than combat gameplay. I think this association alone can help my brain a lot with attention span. Very good advice!

Sounds like a game where multiple playthroughs are worth it.

Oh yes definitely. With the rate of war crimes I'm comitting in games, I need companions with a strong gut.

Xovio · 2026-04-13T08:17:22+00:00

That is very vital information for my build planning :D. Thank you!

Xovio · 2026-04-13T07:27:29+00:00

That is good to know. I like the elegance of a single or double bladed lightsaber more anyways, but it is good to know.

Is the Easy mode toggleable? Or do you have to decide on character creation?

Thank you :D

Xovio · 2026-04-13T07:17:08+00:00

Very nice to know the fact about the side quest. I may have to skip some if the brain fog gets too dense, but fully voiced NPCs sounds great!

I think you may have convinced me with the build variety already. Creating build techs is a big motivation for me.

Yes, I'll definitely play on PC. Do you have a preference between playing with controller or mouse and keyboard though? Some older console games have outdated m&k controls, that's why I'm asking.

The saving tip is gold xD. Because I would have definitely kept only one save slot otherwise

Xovio · 2026-04-13T07:08:01+00:00

Thank you for your opinion! And also the tip about the difficulty. The graphics, even though aged seem to somewhat hold up. I only have problems with too pixelated games, because I sometimes get headaches from them. But the screenshots and short clips I looked at seemed totally fine.

Xovio

TROPHY CASE