Crimson Desert Bounty Guide: How to Do the Hernand Guard's Job for Them
It turns out Pywel's law enforcement is entirely decorative, leaving you to clean up the streets one criminal at a time.
If you have spent any time wandering the wilds of Crimson Desert, you have probably noticed that the local guards do absolutely nothing. There are literal armies of bandits occupying forts just down the road from major cities, and the authorities simply post a piece of paper on a lamppost hoping someone else handles it. That someone is you.
Bounty hunting in this game is a lucrative side hustle, but it is also a massive logistical headache. You cannot just shoot these targets from a distance and claim a reward. You have to physically track them down, beat a confession out of them, tie them up, throw them on the back of your horse, and ride all the way back to the local jail. If your horse has terrible stamina or you accidentally ride through a pack of hostile mercenaries, your hard earned payday is going to end up in a ditch. I have dragged enough of these cowards across the map to know exactly where they hide and how to make the capture as painless as possible.
The Art of the Kidnap
Before you go hunting for House Celeste, you need to understand how the capture mechanics actually work. The bounty system unlocks in Chapter 2. You will start seeing wanted posters nailed to wooden posts around Hernand city.
Grabbing a poster adds the target to your journal and marks their general last known location on your map. Finding them is only the first step. When you spot your target, they will almost always panic and run. You have to sprint after them and tackle them to the dirt. Once they are on the ground, the game requires you to punch them exactly three times. This beats a confession out of them, which usually pops into your inventory as a piece of evidence like a letter or a document.
After the confession, you get the prompt to restrain them. Now you are carrying a wriggling human body. Your movement speed is severely gutted, and you cannot fight. You need to call your horse immediately, stow the target on the back, and stick strictly to the main roads. I highly recommend acquiring a horse with the Sprint and Quick Start abilities before you dive deep into bounty hunting. Trying to navigate the wilderness with a prisoner on a slow horse is a miserable experience.
All Hernand Bounty Locations
There are currently nine bounties scattered across the Hernand region. Some are wandering the city streets, while others require you to liberate entire enemy outposts before they even spawn.
Capturing the Cowards
A few of these bounties require a bit more effort than simply showing up and throwing a punch. The game loves to surround your target with hostile enemies, meaning you have to clear the area before the actual target panics and runs away.
Dealing with Blix and Alessio
Both Blix and Alessio are heavily guarded by their respective gangs. If you just charge in swinging your sword, the resulting chaos will likely give your bounty enough time to sprint into the wilderness and despawn.
For Blix, stand near the top of the crevice on Unicorn Cliff and use your bow. Shoot one of his gang members to draw their aggro and pull them away from Blix. Once you thin the herd, drop down and deal with the rest. The moment his crew dies, Blix will bolt. Tackle him quickly.
Alessio operates the exact same way near the Trembling Gorge. He is standing by a broken wagon. Pick off his guards with arrows from a distance. He is a massive coward and will immediately run the second his friends hit the floor.
The Simon De Montfort Headache
Simon is arguably the most annoying bounty on the list, not because he is tough, but because the map actively hates you. He is hanging around a beehive in the far southwest corner of Hernand. If you try to hunt him early in the game, you will find the main path completely blocked by a giant named Bismuth.
You have two options here. The smart play is to just ignore his poster until you reach Chapter 4, which naturally opens up the main trail past the Scholastone Institute. If you are stubborn and want the eight silver right now, you have to find Senia in the southwest Hernand Highlands, climb over a ridiculous amount of rocks heading west to bypass the roadblock, catch Simon, and then carefully slide down the cliffs into the Witchwoods to find a clear path back to the city. I do not recommend doing this unless you enjoy suffering.
Unlocking Haldin
Haldin pays out the most silver in the region, but he requires the most prep work. You cannot just ride up and grab him. He is hiding at the Vilkom Outpost northwest of the Hills of No Return.
Before his bounty poster even materializes in the world, you have to violently evict the Wolf Trackers currently occupying the outpost. Go in, kill every single bandit, and liberate the camp. Once the area is clear, travel to the path between the Goldleaf Trading Post and Bloomwood Ranch. The poster will finally spawn there. Grab it, head back to the newly liberated Vilkom Outpost, and you will find Haldin wandering around in a stolen Hernand soldier uniform.
Once you have him tied up, strap him to your horse and make the agonizingly slow ride back to north Hernand city to claim your thirty silver. Pywel is a safer place, and you are slightly richer. Do not expect the local guards to thank you.
