Best Side Quests in Crimson Desert — Faction Quests & Hernand Commissions
Discover the best side quests in Crimson Desert, including Greymane faction quests for camp building, Hernand Commissions for contribution and inventory slots, and House faction boss encounters.
Side quests in Crimson Desert are not filler — they drive character progression, unlock essential camp upgrades, and provide some of the game's most memorable boss encounters. With 16+ distinct factions offering quests and 63 Hernand Commissions alone, knowing where to focus your time makes a huge difference. This guide highlights the most rewarding side content and explains the quest systems behind them.
Faction Quest System
Faction quests are the primary side content in Crimson Desert, organized under distinct factions with their own storylines, characters, and reward tracks. Completing them earns crafting materials, elixirs, rare gear, Abyss Artifacts, and increased Contribution standing with regional factions.
The Must-Do: Greymane Camp Questline
The Greymane camp-building questline is widely considered the single best side quest chain in the game. Starting around Chapter 3 (Howling Hill - Homestead) when you establish your camp, this questline transforms a barren hilltop into a full-service hub with:
- Merchants and equipment vendors
- Crafting stations and Refinement facilities
- Cooking facilities with daily free food from Lonnie
- Inventory expansion opportunities
- Dispatch missions for passive resource gathering
Greymane Quest Categories
Scattered Embers — Immediate survival missions: recruiting lost Greymane comrades, rescue missions (e.g., "To the Rescue," "A Chunk of Meat," "Fang Without a Master").
Grounds of the Sunrise — Camp expansion projects: collecting resources like timber and stone, investigating rumors, and locating scattered members to rebuild the faction.
Greymane Commissions — Tasks assigned by rescued Greymane members, often involving specific resource gathering or favors.
Prioritize the Greymane camp questline as soon as it becomes available. Every upgrade to your camp provides permanent quality-of-life improvements that compound over time. The daily free food from Lonnie alone saves enormous amounts of silver on healing supplies.
Hernand Commissions (63 Quests)
The Hernand Commissions represent the largest single pool of side quests — 63 quests from various NPCs in Hernand City and surrounding areas. Many are available immediately upon entering Hernand, with additional tasks appearing on the town's Notice Board.
Notable Commissions
Rhett's Request — An early commission that teaches mining basics. Mine two Iron Ores for the blacksmith Rhett and receive a pickaxe, Medium Bags, and Hernandian Contribution. Essential to complete early for opening up the resource gathering system.
Cooking Commissions — Tasks like preparing Modest Fish Porridge for Renee. Simple but reward Contribution and cooking recipe knowledge.
Ambition in the Ruins — A more complex commission requiring detective work. Deduce a culprit based on snippets of conversation from villagers around Calphade Castle. One of the more engaging narrative side quests.
Rewards
Hernand Commissions typically reward Medium Bags (inventory expansion), crafting materials, and increased Trust and Hernandian Contribution with local NPCs.
House Faction Boss Quests
Several faction questlines culminate in epic boss encounters that rival the main story fights:
House Roberts Quests
- Leads to the Crimson Nightmare boss fight at Fort Perwin
- One of the most challenging optional encounters in the game
- Rewards elixirs and massive Contribution EXP
House Serkis Quests
- Leads to Saigord the Staglord at Icemoor Castle Ruins
- A legendary-difficulty optional fight with unique mount and weapon rewards
House faction boss quests are among the hardest content in the game. Do not attempt them until you have fully upgraded Tier 4+ armor and weapons. These are late-game challenges disguised as side quests.
Faction Contribution Rewards
As your Contribution rank increases in each region, you unlock exclusive gear from regional vendors:
| Contribution Level | Reward Type |
|---|---|
| Low | Basic consumables and crafting materials |
| Medium | Mid-tier weapons and armor |
| High | Exclusive weapons and armor sets |
| Maximum | Unique legendary items |
Reaching high Contribution is critical for accessing the best region-specific equipment. Side quests, bounties, boss kills, and exploration all contribute to this total.
Best Side Quest Priority Order
- Greymane Camp Questline — Start immediately in Chapter 3, keep doing these between main quests
- Rhett's Request and early Hernand Commissions — Unlock mining and gather inventory bags
- Bounty quests from notice boards — Silver income and inventory slots
- Regional faction quests for the area you are currently exploring
- House faction boss quests — Save for late game when gear is maxed
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